Chester: West Brom have agreed a deal for Hull defender James Chester. The 26-year-old is expected to tie up the switch within the next 24 hours after leaving Hull’s training camp in Austria as Tony Pulis’s recruitment drive gathers pace. Reports said the transfer is worth up to £8 million should all the clauses in the deal be triggered while Chester is an Albion player.
Jonathas: Brazilian striker Jonathas was officially presented as a Real Sociedad player yesterday. The 26-year-old forward signed from Serie B side Pescara on Monday night after spending last season on loan at Elche, and was introduced to fans at the club’s Anoeta Stadium. After signing for David Moyes’s side, Jonathas said: “I feel very happy, my family, for signing up with such a big club like Real Sociedad. I come with great enthusiasm and that’s important and positive to perform in the field.”
Plea: Reported Stoke target Alassane Plea has pledged his future to Nice for at least another season. The 22-year-old winger started 27 games in Ligue 1, contributing three goals and seven assists, after signing from Lyon last summer. That has led to speculation over his future but he told L’Equipe: “I will spend the season here. There are English clubs interested but it is a bit too soon to leave.”
Hull: Hull have completed the signings of Ryan Taylor and Sam Clucas. Defender Taylor, 30, has signed a one-year contract with the Championship club, having been released by Newcastle at the end of the 2014-15 season. Midfielder Clucas, 24, has signed a three-year deal after joining for an undisclosed fee from League One Chesterfield.
St Louis match: The road to Russia starts in St Louis for the United States team who will kick off their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign in Missouri on Nov. 13. The match at Busch Stadium, against either St Vincent & The Grenadines or Aruba, will be the first international played in St Louis since 1997. St Vincent & The Grenadines will play a home-and-away game against Aruba in September, with the winners advancing to the Group C stage, which will comprise four teams, headed by the Americans and Trinidad and Tobago.
Champions League
Third qualifying round
| Played yesterday | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Agg |
| CSKA Moscow (Russia) vs S. Prague (Czech Rep.) | 2-2 | ||
| Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) vs Molde (Norway) | 1-1 | ||
| FC Midtjylland (Denmark) vs Apoel FC (Cyprus) | 1-2 | ||
| Fenerbahce (Turkey) vs S. Donetsk (Ukraine) | 0-0 | ||
| Maccabi Tel-Aviv (Israel) vs V. Plzen (Czech Rep.) | 1-2 | ||
| M. Orhei (Moldova) vs KF Skenderbeu (Albania) | 0-2 | ||
| Panathinaikos (Greece) vs Club Brugge (Belgium) | 2-1 | ||
| Videoton (Hungary) vs FC Bate Borisov (Belarus) | 1-1 | ||
| Young Boys (Switzerland) vs Monaco (France) | 1-3 | ||
| Playing today | |||
| Celtic (Scotland) vs Qarabag (Azerbaijan) | |||
| HJK Helsinki (Finland) vs FC Astana (Kazakhstan) | |||
| Lech Poznan (Poland) vs FC Basel (Switzerland) | |||
| Rapid Vienna (Austria) vs Ajax Amsterdam (Holland) | |||
| Salzburg (Austria) vs Malmo (Sweden) | |||
| S. Bucharest (Romania) vs Partizan Belgrade (Serbia) |
Second legs: August 4-5.
Play-off round draw: August 7.