If you are going to set an arbritary timeframe on it, you can spin it any way you like.
Fact is, if you take our policy of taking punts on young players with potential, it has been overwhelmingly profitable - in both a sporting and financial way.
Yes, Jansen is a net cost. Yes, we havent yet realised profit on Alli. But, what about all the profit that preceeds us?
Bale, Walker, Modric, Carrick, Keane, Wimmer, Chadli, Lennon... all profitable as memory serves. Some incredibly so.
Same with home growns, Mason, Bentaleb, O'Hara, Caulker, Pritchard...
Jansen is a cost at this time, but that doesnt negate the policy we operate, and I dont think the idea of "we could have got another player" really stacks up.