Leonardo Ulloa

José Leonardo Ulloa Fernández (locally [xoˈse leoˈnaɾðowˈʎoa feɾˈnandes]; born 26 July 1986) is an Argentine retired professional footballer who played as a striker.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Ulloa and the second or maternal family name is Fernández.

Leonardo Ulloa
Ulloa in 2014
Personal information
Full name José Leonardo Ulloa Fernández[1]
Date of birth (1986-07-26) 26 July 1986[2]
Place of birth General Roca, Argentina
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[3]
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
CAI
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2004 CAI 7 (1)
2005–2007 San Lorenzo 31 (3)
2007 Arsenal Sarandí 12 (3)
2008 Olimpo 14 (3)
2008–2010 Castellón 78 (30)
2010–2013 Almería 90 (39)
2013–2014 Brighton & Hove Albion 50 (23)
2014–2018 Leicester City 86 (18)
2018 → Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) 10 (1)
2018–2019 Pachuca 28 (8)
2019–2021 Rayo Vallecano 28 (6)
Total 434 (135)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

After starting out with CAI, he joined San Lorenzo in 2005, going on to spend the better part of the following years in Spain with Castellón and Almería, competing in La Liga with the latter club and also being Segunda División top scorer in 2012.

Ulloa moved to England in 2013, where he represented Brighton & Hove Albion and Leicester City. He won the Premier League with the latter, in the 2015–16 season.

Club career

Early years and Castellón

Born in General Roca, Río Negro, Ulloa started his career in 2002, playing with Primera B Nacional side Comisión de Actividades Infantiles. In 2005 he moved to the Primera División, signing for San Lorenzo where he was part of the squad that won the 2007 Clausura.[4]

Shortly after, Ulloa joined Arsenal de Sarandí. In the summer of 2008, after a brief stint with Olimpo, he moved to Spain to play for Segunda División club Castellón, where he was reunited with compatriot and former CAI teammate José Tabares.[5][6] He scored 16 goals in his debut season, his team's best and sixth in the league.[7]

Almería

Ulloa posted similar numbers in 2009–10, but Castellón were relegated after finishing 22nd and last. In late June 2010 he moved to another club in the country, Almería, signing a five-year contract.[8]

On 13 September 2010, in only his second official match for the Andalusians, Ulloa scored in the last minute for a 2–2 La Liga home draw against Real Sociedad, after an individual effort.[9] The following month, against the same opponent in the Copa del Rey's round-of-32 first leg, he netted twice in the last 20 minutes to help his team come back from 0–2 to win 3–2, in the Basque Country.[10]

On 22 December 2010, again in the domestic cup, Ulloa scored three goals and assisted on another, as Almería beat Mallorca 4–3 in the first leg,[11] winning 8–6 on aggregate. On 16 January 2011 he took his league tally to five, netting in a 1–1 home draw against Real Madrid after finishing a move from countryman Pablo Piatti.[12]

Ulloa was crowned the 2011–12 season's top scorer,[13] but Almería failed to regain their top-flight status after finishing seventh.

Brighton & Hove Albion
Ulloa playing for Brighton & Hove Albion in 2013

On 16 January 2013, Ulloa transferred to Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion on a four-and-a-half-year deal, for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £2 million.[14][15] He scored on his debut ten days later, in a 2–3 home loss against Arsenal in the fourth round of the FA Cup.[16]

On 2 March 2013, Ulloa became the first ever player to score a hat-trick at Falmer Stadium, during Brighton's 4–1 win over Huddersfield Town.[17] Two weeks later he scored twice against Crystal Palace in a 3–0 victory, also at home,[18] contributing to his team's first home win in the M23 derby since 1988; manager Gus Poyet described him as "different class";[19] he continued his scoring run on the 30th, with his ninth goal in 12 matches coming in a 2–2 draw at Nottingham Forest.[20]

On 27 April 2013, Ulloa scored the goal that confirmed Brighton's place in the Championship play-offs, heading the 88th-minute winner to secure a 2–1 success at Leeds United.[21] The following season, on 3 May 2014 and again through a header, he netted in the last minute to once again send the club to the play-offs, helping to a comeback at Nottingham Forest and 2–1 win.[22]

Leicester City
Ulloa (right) playing for Leicester City in 2014

On 22 July 2014, Ulloa joined Leicester City on a four-year contract for a club record £8 million,[23] being handed the number 23 shirt.[24] He started on his Premier League debut at home to Everton on 16 August, and scored after 22 minutes as his team twice came from a goal down to secure a 2–2 draw.[25] He found the net in his third appearance, against Arsenal on 31 August for another home draw (1–1),[26] and scored the only goal of the match to help defeat Stoke City for the club's first win of the campaign.[27]

On 21 September 2014, Ulloa contributed with a brace in a 5–3 home win over Manchester United.[28] After nine games without a goal, he scored but in a 2–1 loss at Aston Villa.[29]

During January 2015, Ulloa scored in FA Cup victories over Newcastle United[30] and Tottenham, helping the Foxes to reach the fifth round.[31] On 18 April, he netted his first league goal of 2015 in a 2–0 win against Swansea City which saw Leicester move off the bottom of the table for the first time since November 2014.[32] Two weeks later, he scored twice in a 3–0 victory over Newcastle for his team's fifth win from six matches.[33]

Under Claudio Ranieri, Ulloa played mostly second-fiddle to Shinji Okazaki and Jamie Vardy in 2015–16,[34][35] but still managed to contribute 29 games and six goals[36] as Leicester won the first top-flight league title of their 132-year history,[37] including one in the last minute of a 1–0 defeat of Norwich City at the King Power Stadium on 27 February 2016 which caused celebrations that led to a small earthquake registering on the Richter scale.[38]

Ulloa struggled to break into the first team following the signings of Islam Slimani and Ahmed Musa in 2016–17,[39] prompting an enquiry from Swansea City.[40] He did not start his first league match of the season until 2 January 2017, in a goalless draw against Middlesbrough,[41] and late into that month he submitted a transfer request,[42] which led to bids from Alavés and Sunderland;[43] these were rejected, as well as a subsequent loan offer from Galatasaray, leading the player to express in a Twitter post that he felt "betrayed by Ranieri" and vowed not to play for Leicester again.[44] A total of three bids from Sunderland, ranging from £3 million to £7.5 million, were rejected as Leicester were unwilling to sell him to a relegation rival.[45]

On 24 August 2017, aged 31, Ulloa signed a new contract at Leicester, extending his stay with the club until June 2019.[46] He struggled to break into the first team during the season, only playing a total of 19 minutes in the league in four substitute appearances;[47] thus, on 29 January 2018, he completed a loan move to Brighton & Hove Albion for his second spell.[48]

Ulloa scored his first goal for Brighton since 2014 on 17 February 2018, in a home 3–1 home win against Coventry City in the FA Cup.[49] His first in the league came on 9 May, but in a 3–1 loss at Manchester City;[50] shortly after, having appeared in 12 competitive matches,[51] he revealed he was hoping to earn a permanent move to the club.[52]

Pachuca

On 10 August 2018, Ulloa joined Liga MX club Pachuca.[53] His first goal for his new team, a header, opened the scoring in a 2–0 win over Celaya in the Copa MX.[54][55]

Rayo Vallecano

On 30 August 2019, Pachuca announced Ulloa's departure to Rayo Vallecano via Twitter.[56]

International career

In late 2014 Ulloa, whose grandfather was born in Chile, had an offer from Chile national team manager Jorge Sampaoli to become naturalized and represent them,[57][58] but he declined it.[59]

Personal life

Ulloa was one of up to 20 top footballers named in the Panama Papers, a 2016 leak of offshore accounts. In 2008, while at San Lorenzo, he ceded his economic and image rights to Jump Drive Sports Rights LLC, registered in Washington in the name of two companies registered in Samoa. The director of the company at the time of the leak was on trial for fraud; it was alleged he took money that was due to Ulloa.[60]

Career statistics
Ulloa (left) playing for Leicester City in 2015
As of match played 13 June 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
CAI 2002–03[61] Primera B Nacional 20———20
2003–04[61] Primera B Nacional 51———51
Total 71———71
San Lorenzo 2004–05[61] Argentine Primera División 00———00
2005–06[61] Argentine Primera División 121———121
2006–07[61] Argentine Primera División 192———192
Total 313———313
Arsenal Sarandí 2007–08[61] Argentine Primera División 123———123
Olimpo 2007–08[61] Argentine Primera División 143———143
Castellón 2008–09[62] Segunda División 401600——4016
2009–10[63] Segunda División 381410——3914
Total 783010——7930
Almería 2010–11[64] La Liga 34766——4013
2011–12[65] Segunda División 382821——4029
2012–13[66] Segunda División 18442——226
Total 9039129——10248
Brighton & Hove Albion 2012–13[67] Championship 17911—2[lower-alpha 3]02010
2013–14[68] Championship 331422102[lower-alpha 3]03816
Total 50233310405826
Leicester City 2014–15[69] Premier League 37113200—4013
2015–16[70] Premier League 2962020—336
2016–17[71] Premier League 16110105[lower-alpha 4]0231
2017–18[72] Premier League 400020—60
Total 861862505010220
Leicester City U21/U23 2016–17[71] ———1[lower-alpha 5]010
2017–18[72] ———1[lower-alpha 5]010
Total ———2020
Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) 2017–18[72] Premier League 10121——122
Pachuca 2018–19[73] Liga MX 7234——106
Rayo Vallecano 2019–20[74] Segunda División 17620——196
2020–21[75] Segunda División 11010—1[lower-alpha 6]0130
Total 28630—10326
Career total 413123271960120461148
  1. Includes Copa del Rey, FA Cup and Copa MX
  2. Includes Football League Cup/EFL Cup
  3. Appearances in Championship play-offs
  4. One appearance in FA Community Shield, four appearances in UEFA Champions League
  5. Appearance in EFL Trophy
  6. Appearance in La Liga play-offs

Honours

San Lorenzo

Arsenal Sarandí

Leicester City

Individual

References
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  5. "El Huesca arranca un empate y Tabares se rompe la tibia y el peroné" [Huesca scrape a draw and Tabares breaks tibia and fibula]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Madrid. 31 January 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
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  8. "El Almería ficha al argentino Ulloa" [Almería sign Argentine Ulloa]. Diario Sur (in Spanish). Málaga. 22 June 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
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