Were.We are though.
Players are falling over themselves to go to City (Pep; success; money on and off the books), Chelsea (stupid contracts; London) where we have no bigger draw than Liverpool, Arsenal or now Newcastle, either.
Outside of Woodward era wages, players are easily swayed by other clubs where in the past, we were at least the top tier option alongside Chelsea domestically.
This isn't even factoring foreign giants: Real, Barca (still), Bayern and PSG can, and do, constantly entice talent we'd like without much fuss.
A lot has changed in these ruinous 10 years of not being a dominant force.