IIRC the popular opinion was that this would all be done and dusted midway through the 20/21 season after winter. Nobody at that time thought that this would be a prolonged affair or could have foreseen that it would mutate repeatedly - the multiple lockdowns in most developed countries are evidence of this - there is not even a single government that accurately predicted the full extent of the pandemic.
I'm sure had Fosun remembered to look at their magic crystal ball, they may have reconsidered some of last season's transfer activity, although I still believe they would have gone through with Fabio. That transfer is part of a bigger picture.
But signing Fabio is the reason that we were able to sign Neves and Neto - it's quite clear. We're in a partnership with Mendes, sometimes he does us a favour and sometimes we return the favour. The ultimate goal is that it's mutually beneficial and even after the signing of Silva is accounted for, I still believe it is. All of our Mendes transfers are inextricably linked - we can't just say yes to a few and no to others (well, obviously we could, but then we'd find out supply of cut-price world class players would dry up overnight).
Regardless of their current stature, neither of those players would have wanted to sign for us without the Mendes connection. A timeless club badge, being founder members of the football league, the pioneers of European football and the first club to win all four divisions are not typically things that represent a draw to international players