The bold part has nothing to do with us finishing in the top four. The proof is last season when we had a higher wage bill (and the players you mentioned) and finished 8th.
There is an awful lot of evidence that it does, not least from Tomkins Pay as you play. One of the reviews, says this:
For too long, clubs/ managers were judged on the simplistic basis of just adding up the transfer fees they paid out. In recent years, though, some have started to think about net spending, taking into account the money recouped from player sales.
The correlation between wage bills and league position has also been shown to be strong: basically, the more you pay, the higher you finish.I'd love to see us buck the trend, but it's very, very hard. Of course, the window hasn't closed and we may bring in a whole load more players, so let's see.