That is not true. The are the top apparent young targets that everyone is going after i.e the Hallands, Nunez, Touchameni. You are going to loose out on those players to Madrid, City, Pool no question.
But there are other targets who are not as well known who you can get if you have proper scouting. Rangnick literally suggested some of those players while he was here and we didn't go after them. He suggested Luiz Diaz, Julian Alvarez, Denis Zakaria , Nkunku, Dusan
We didn't go after them and those players were either signed up by other clubs or got new contracts with their current clubs.
These players who are a better fit longterm are available. UTD are either too slow in acting to sign them or don't scout them properly. We need to stop excusing their transfer policy. We can build for the long term with better decision making and better scouting. We shouldn't go after players who are exiting their prime. Sure we can all get excited in the short term. But 2,3 years from now we will be looking to replace them. It makes no sense at all. Go after someone who can fill the need for 7- 10 years. Otherwise are in a constant state of rebuild. We have been in one since SAF left and its because there is no planning for the long-term