I don’t know much about these new Canon with crop sensor. I will just say that the quality of the ‘consumer’ lenses is pretty spectacular, despite the optical flaws and the need for software corrections. I’ve always been a prime-lenses guy but recently I bought the RF 24-240 that I’m using with an “old” EOS R (*) and the results are impressive.
In fact I want also to get the RF 100-400 which is incredibly cheap and light to shoot sports (ehm, not at a pro / paid level, just to take better photos at my daughter’s ski races).
Maybe you could consider used EOS R with this 100-400 perhaps if you don’t mind the “low” fps rate? Could be cheaper perhaps?
(*) to be clear, I have been using the same lens with an EOS RP too and my opinion was exactly the same, I mean going to the R hasn’t changed much my perception, I only did this body upgrade for other reasons (the RP failed miserably). You can tell that I’m not anymore in the race for the latest/brightest sensor, these two sensors (26Mp ex-Canon 6D and 30Mp ex-Canon 5dmk4) from “ages” ago are still excellent performers for me.