No summer transfer window is complete without a long- running saga hanging over it, and this year’s Harry Kane plotline was more thought provoking than most. Is it better to chase trophies or goalscoring records? To remain a legend at one club or compete with the elite? Stay at home or test yourself abroad?

In the end, of course, Kane elected to join Bayern Munich in a deal worth over €100 million, pausing his pursuit of the Premier League goal record in exchange for a tilt at lifting the Champions League. While it’s still early days, he appears to have settled in immediately at his new home, completely at ease in this world-class environment.

Kane’s rise from a series of uninspiring loans in English football’s lower reaches to one of the biggest clubs in Europe is a story of dedication and perseverance, and we wanted to tell it in this issue’s player biography.

Kane, like so many of this summer’s other biggest movers – Ruben Neves, Jude Bellingham, James Maddison and others – cut his teeth in the English Football League, and we’ve taken a look at some of the other young EFL graduates bidding to make a name for themselves around Europe this season.

In contrast, Aitana Bonmati nurtured her talents in Europe’s finest footballing finishing school – Barcelona’s La Masia academy – with stunning results, as anyone who watched her pulling the strings on the way to Spain’s World Cup victory in Australia and New Zealand can attest. Sadly, of course, the behaviour of Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales (pages 14 and 71) has somewhat overshadowed the team’s magnificence, but we have dedicated a few pages to shining a spotlight on the supremely talented Barca playmaker.