An age-old argument, without any definitive answer: when do you let your best player go if the rest of the team needs serious improvement? Is it at the point of emotional guilt-tripping, or when the finances make most sense? Is it when the individual starts creating negativity around the dressing room? Or is it in fact not at all – you keep the top performers and that’s the end of it? Daniel Levy, chairperson at Spurs, has been placed in this position before, but perhaps not when Tottenham have been in such a period of weakness and at such a moment of crossroads. When Luka Modric departed in 2012, Spurs had finished fourth and reached the FA Cup semi-final. A year later when Gareth Bale made his exit, Spurs finished one place further back in the Premier League but actually earned three points more than the campaign previous. The rebuild money across those two summers was perhaps spent in mixed fashion, but it was at a time Tottenham were trying to crack into the top clubs on a regular basis. This time, it’s Harry Kane who looks set for a departure, with Bayern Munich offering up an initial bid – big money, but perhaps not quite big enough just yet – for the striker who has only one year remaining on his contract. Kane has been better, more important, more consistent and longer-serving for Tottenham than either of the two aforementioned stars, or indeed any others they’ve had of late. Yet the club also finished eighth last season, their worst league placing in 14 years, and it’s time for both Kane to move on and Spurs to move on without him. It is not for any reason so crass or emotive or frankly ludicrous as “they owe him”. Spurs do not owe Kane anything. He has been excellent for them, and they have given him the platform to be so. But he clearly has kept his level when the club has lost its own, starting at the most uppermost points of the hierarchy downwards. Kane should be seeking a move for his own prospects, for his own ability to win trophies and his own capacity to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the greatest centre-forwards of this generation. At Bayern in particular, he’ll very much have the opportunity to do that. Of course, the flip side of the player-based argument is twofold: winning silverware at Spurs might mean more, and so too might claiming the Premier League goalscoring record. Only Kane himself can answer those two factors truthfully, but even if he were to head to the Bundesliga to rack up three or four titles now, there’s very little to suggest his playmaking and goalscoring prowess would have deserted him by the time he turns 33 or 34. A comeback to Spurs once they’ve rebuilt and he’s filled his boots elsewhere? Don’t rule it out. A move abroad is also a risk of its own kind, between adaptation to culture and club, especially in a Euros season. But Gareth Southgate isn’t likely to be leaving out his captain any time soon even if form does desert him – let alone the question of whether there’s even an alternative candidate. And so the decision heads once more to Levy, in charge yet again of overseeing transfers after Fabio Paratici’s enforced exit, and tasked with coming up with a price he finds acceptable for a player the fans value above all others, yet will otherwise surely lose for free in a year. To be blunt, Spurs cannot afford the kind of bluster and brinkmanship Levy has shown before with a far stronger hand. The team needs investment. The team might need outright reshaping, given Ange Postecoglou is almost as far removed from Antonio Conte tactically as he is by way of club interim appointments. Without any kind of European football this coming campaign, Spurs have the chance to make the most of the Australian’s excellent coaching capacity on the training pitch with the additional time between matches the schedule will afford him, so to maximise a season on the fringes they should also be seeking to build the group of players which will benefit him most. While Kane the player is irreplaceable, Spurs can provide Postecoglou with a group to more than make up for what they lose through his sale, if the proceeds are reinvested well and existing players nurtured. Richarlison is the most obvious example, especially as the potential replacement No 9, but Dejan Kulusevski has so much more to give too. Spurs don’t need to gut the building entirely, but they certainly need a better structure than they had last season. Selling Kane is a hard choice, but the right one for the club to move into a new phase of more normalised expectations with long-term prospects for improvement – and the right one for the striker to prove himself on a whole new level, too. Read More Man City ‘to submit improved offer’ for Declan Rice after Arsenal bid Tottenham standing firm on Harry Kane amid interest from Bayern Munich Football rumours: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain weighs up Saudi Arabia move Osimhen and five Man United transfer alternatives to signing Kane Football rumours: Manchester United make last-gasp attempt to sign Harry Kane Range of armband options for Women’s World Cup as FIFA aims to avoid repeat row

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Pep Guardiola feels it is “almost impossible” for Manchester City to repeat last season’s treble-winning heroics. City will begin the 2023-24 campaign as favourites in all competitions but Guardiola is not expecting a repeat of last term, when his side claimed Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup success. “It feels like it finished yesterday but we start again,” said the City manager, whose side travel to Burnley for their Premier League opener on Friday. “I don’t think it will be possible to do what we did last season, it’s once in a lifetime. I said to the players forget about it. “We climbed the highest mountain last season but we have come down that mountain now. We start from the same as everyone else, with the same intention and there will be a lot of difficulties to climb the mountain again. “What we have done remains in our hearts and minds but it’s over. “The history speaks for itself but it is almost impossible to repeat.” Guardiola, speaking at a press conference, was unwilling to comment on speculation linking the club with a move for West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta. He said: “I will not answer about Paqueta. He is a West Ham player.” The City boss also offered no updates on the situation concerning full-back Kyle Walker, who has been linked with Bayern Munich throughout the summer. “We are wishing he stays but there is no news,” Guardiola said. Another player who has been the subject of speculation is youngster Cole Palmer, who scored City’s goal in their Community Shield loss to Arsenal last weekend. The 21-year-old is reportedly the subject of a loan bid from West Ham. Guardiola said: “Cole is with us. Today he is with us. What is going to happen, I don’t know. “I understand completely that he wants to be more active than the previous season, but Riyad (Mahrez) has gone, so we have one more place there. “We will see. I cannot say anything because the last decisions belong to the club. The club have to decide what is best.” Friday’s trip to Turf Moor will see Guardiola come up against his former captain Vincent Kompany, who has guided the Clarets back to the top flight at the first attempt. Guardiola said: “Normally the first games are difficult, especially against newly-promoted teams because they have nothing to lose and the energy, the dream to do a good season. “Apart from that, Vinny knows us well and he is doing an incredible job. “He has changed the way Burnley play completely and they destroyed the Championship. It will be a tough, tough game.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live The key battles that could separate Leigh and Hull KR in the Challenge Cup final I’ll give absolutely everything – Edson Alvarez signs for West Ham from Ajax Zak Hardaker admits repaying Leigh coach for his faith would be ‘pretty special’

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Residents from a small Icelandic town under threat from volcanic eruption have described ‘apocalyptic’ existence as they fear for their future. Last Friday, thousands of Grindavik residents were ordered to leave as the town was rocked by hundreds of earthquakes. The small fishing town is 34 miles from Reykjavík and is home to the famous tourist attraction the Blue Lagoon. Many have been unable to return to the ‘danger zone’ to collect their belongings, as earthquakes continue to strike the town. Grindavik resident Andrea Ævarsdóttir, 46, told The Independent: “Everything just seems so unreal, I feel like I’m in a dystopian movie. I’m just waiting to wake up from this nightmare.” The mother was getting ready to go into Reykjavík to celebrate her son Björgvin Hrafnar’s 16th birthday when their house started to shake on Friday. “Some of them [the earthquakes] were like a big truck had driven past your house, the bigger ones were like the same truck had hit your house,” she said. “Everything was shaking so bad, the floors were going up and down.” The family planned on staying overnight at her mother’s home, but they were alerted en route that they were going to be evacuated so only had their overnight bags and had left their cats behind. Ms Ævarsdóttir made the difficult call to return home to get her cats and medication but was stopped at a checkpoint on the main road Grindavikurvegur. Fortunately, the mother was granted special permission to return to collect her tablets and three pets before heading back. Like other Grindavik residents, Ms Ævarsdóttir was allowed to return home on Monday to collect her belongings but had to obey a 10-minute time limit. She is now living with her 16 and 14-year-old sons in her mother’s cramped two-bedroom apartment. Describing the surreality and sadness of leaving her home, she said: “I was crying non-stop when we got to Grindavik, we were allowed to drive into town. “We had ten minutes, you don’t have the mental capacity to think, I was in panic mode, I just grabbed what I could see. “I grabbed all of the clothes I could think of but I left one of the packed suitcases behind.” The children do not yet have to return to school as they recover from the shock, but it remains unclear where they will go, explained the mother. The distraught mother works as the director of a local and public school library and explained the families ‘entire existence is in Grindavik’. Her home of eight and a half years is still standing but some have fallen to the ground due to the strong quakes. “It was really hard to see the state of some of the houses and streets. My house seemed fine but this area is really unstable.” Now the mother has to decide whether she wants to eventually move back to the town, if it isn’t destroyed by the volcanic eruption. She says residents have accustomed to living with earthquakes, but living on an active volcano fissure is a different story. “I love living in Grindavik, it’s a really nice close-knit town but now comes the fear if we get to move back, do we want to move back?” she said. “This area is really unstable. Do we want to experience evacuation again?” Siggeir Ævarsson, 38, is another Grindavik resident who does not know if he will be able to return to his family home. The teacher had planned to meet his brother and sister-in-law but after the earthquakes stuck on Friday his brother-in-law urged them to come sooner. “I’ve seen a lot Earthquakes but this is something I’ve never felt before. “The sources were 2km away from our house. Things were falling down from shelves, I was standing in the kitchen I thought, can I even put pans on the stove.” Alongside his wife and youngest daughter,Þorgeir Úlfar,14, they grabbed their two cats and left. The 38-year-old says he and his wife, Soffía Sveinsdóttir, 39, have been fortunate as his sister-in-law has a spacious house with spare rooms. Mr Ævarsson was allowed to return on Sunday and was able to fill two cars with their items. “It was like going into an apocalyptic movie. The town was empty and lifeless. There were cracks everywhere. “It was very weird to walk into the house, it looked exactly the same the lights were still on. “Other houses are cracking in two, my house was fine, but a few metres up the road they are ruined.” As a born-and-bred Grindavikian, the father–of-two is trying to remain positive and “not think about lava flowing through his home”. “I’m trying to think of this as extension of a holiday, I’m watching movies, drinking beer.” Read More Iceland residents describe ‘apocalyptic’ scenes as they flee volcano threat Iceland eruption likely scientists warn as ‘biggest bulldozer’ deployed - live Biggest volcanic eruptions in the last 10 years as Iceland town faces devastation Is it safe to travel to Iceland? Your rights if you have a holiday booked Huge cracks appear on roads in Iceland’s volcano-threatened town Iceland earthquake: Town could be obliterated if volcanic eruption strikes

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