The point that Butcher used to make...but was never fully covered/explained by journalists (that I can recall) was not that players demanded higher wages, but that the transfer fees for younger players (development costs) priced them out of our range....which is pretty much zero in term of paying a transfer. When signing players from England (cross border), you can sign younger players without incurring that fee for development costs.
Unless a Scottish club frees a young player and, in doing so, gives up their right to a development fee then they're not going to appear on our radar as a feasible signing target....on the basis that if clubs are releasing a young player, then the chances are it's because (in most cases) they don't have it to go on to a higher level.
It's for the above reason that, IMO, Aberdeen only made a move for Graeme Shinnie for this coming season and not before now. Had they done so, then we would have been able to demand a sizeable transfer fee based on his development time with us.