Anyone else bored with seemingly every elite player wanting to Join Real or Barca if it's at all possible? It's been going on for 20 years now. Not sure English clubs can ever compete with them.
England has never competed against them, or Juve, or any of the others though. Going back to when we were the biggest club over here, we still bled a lot of talent to mainland Europe, and in most cases, with only passing regard. It's to be believed we had with a few stars a very open idea of how what they did for Liverpool could open the doors for them later in Spain or Italy or Germany or wherever they sought - as long as they helped us win something. After that, we can cash in on you, and go find the next big thing.
United knew the drill too, albeit a bit more begrudgingly. "You can fuck off there, once we're in a comfortable position." Was Ferguson's mentality, and it worked well for him overall, if you think the kind of talent that left for Madrid, and what he achieved with them beforehand.
Moving players only becomes a problem when you aren't winning stuff, therefore less likely to attract newer ones. Look at City, for instance. A lot of their squad aren't mercenaries (at least, they don't come across as such), yet apart from Sane you don't hear of any of them even grunting towards Spain, because they're in a position where they win stuff. Odds are, over the next couple of seasons they will start to disperse, only after City have guaranteed they've got newer players lined up - and as much as it fucking hurts to admit, they've got that down to an exact science.
Also, as an aside, Barca's level of success is relatively shorter than Madrid's, and what will be fascinating to see is how quickly they land on their feet once Messi retires. They aren't a one-man team, and they did have success prior to him, but my God that club is so synonymous with him that it could really set them back while they find their new identity, with a lot stronger domestic and European competition than they had a couple of decades ago.