Quick Facts
Biography
José Leonardo Ulloa (locally: [xoˈse leoˈnaɾðo uˈʎoa]; born 26 July 1986) is an Argentinian professional footballer who plays for English club Leicester City as a striker.
After starting out with C.A.I., 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.
In 2013 Ulloa moved to England, 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 / 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 de Almagro where he was part of the squad that won the Clausura 2007.
Shortly after, Ulloa joined Arsenal de Sarandí. In the summer of 2008, after a brief stint with Olimpo de Bahía Blanca, he moved to Spain to play for Segunda División's CD Castellón, being reunited with former C.A.I. teammate – and countryman – José Carlos Tabares. He scored 16 goals in his debut season, his team's best and sixth in the league.
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, UD Almería, sigining a five-year contract.
On 13 September 2010, in only his second official game for the Andalusians, Ulloa scored in the last minute for a 2–2 La Liga home draw against Real Sociedad, after an individual effort. 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.
On 22 December 2010, again in the domestic cup, Ulloa scored three goals and assisted on another, as Almería downed RCD Mallorca 4–3 in the first leg, 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.
Ulloa was crowned the 2011–12 season's top scorer, but Almería failed to regain their top level status after finishing seventh.
Brighton & Hove Albion
On 16 January 2013, Ulloa transferred to Football League Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion on a four-and-a-half-year deal, for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £2m. He scored on his debut ten days later, in a 2–3 home loss against Arsenal in the FA Cup.
On 2 March 2013, Ulloa became the first ever player to score a hat-trick at The AMEX, during Brighton's 4–1 win over Huddersfield Town. Two weeks later, he scored twice against Crystal Palace in a 3–0 victory, also at home, contributing to his team's first home win in the M23 derby since 1988; manager Gus Poyet described him as "different class"; he continued his scoring run on the 30th, with his ninth goal in 12 games coming in a 2–2 draw at Nottingham Forest.
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. 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.
Leicester City
On 22 July 2014, Ulloa joined Leicester City on a four-year contract for a club record £8 million, being handed the number 23 shirt. 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. He found the next in his third game, against Arsenal on 31 August for another home draw (1–1), and scored the only goal of the match to help defeat Stoke City for the club's first win of the campaign.
On 21 September 2014, Ulloa contributed with a brace in a 5–3 home win over Manchester United. After nine matches without a goal, he scored but in a 1–2 loss at Aston Villa.
During January 2015, Ulloa scored in FA Cup victories over Newcastle United and Tottenham, helping the Foxes to reach the fifth round. On 18 April, he netted his first league goal of 2015 in a 2–0 win against Swansea City which saw Leicester move out of the last place for the first time since November 2014. Two weeks later, he scored twice in a 3–0 success over Newcastle for his team's fifth win from six matches.
Ulloa played mostly second-fiddle to Shinji Okazaki and Jamie Vardy in 2015–16, but still managed to contribute with 29 games and six goals as Leicester won the first top-flight league title of their 132-year history, including one in the last minute in a 1–0 win over 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.
Ulloa struggled to break into the first team following the signings of Islam Slimani and Ahmed Musa in 2016–17, prompting an enquiry from Swansea City. He did not start his first league game of the season until 2 January 2017, in a goalless draw against Middlesbrough, and late into that month he submitted a transfer request, which led to bids from Deportivo Alavés and Sunderland; these were rejected, as well as a subsequent loan offer from Galatasaray SK, leading the player to express in a Twitter post that he felt "betrayed by Ranieri" and vowed not to play for Leicester again. A total of three bids from Sunderland, ranging from £3m to £7.5m, were rejected as Leicester were unwilling to sell him to a relegation rival.
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, but he declined it.
Personal life
Ulloa was one of up to 20 top football players 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 New York 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 and it is alleged he pocketed money due to Ulloa.
Club statistics
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| C.A.I. | 2002–03 | Primera B Nacional | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| 2003–04 | Primera B Nacional | 5 | 1 | — | — | — | 5 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 7 | 1 | — | — | — | 7 | 1 | |||||
| San Lorenzo | 2004–05 | Argentine Primera División | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2005–06 | Argentine Primera División | 12 | 1 | — | — | — | 12 | 1 | ||||
| 2006–07 | Argentine Primera División | 19 | 2 | — | — | — | 19 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 31 | 3 | — | — | — | 31 | 3 | |||||
| Arsenal Sarandí | 2007–08 | Argentine Primera División | 12 | 3 | — | — | — | 12 | 3 | |||
| Total | 12 | 3 | — | — | — | 12 | 3 | |||||
| Olimpo | 2007–08 | Argentine Primera División | 14 | 3 | — | — | — | 14 | 3 | |||
| Total | 14 | 3 | — | — | — | 14 | 3 | |||||
| Castellón | 2008–09 | Segunda División | 40 | 16 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 40 | 16 | ||
| 2009–10 | Segunda División | 38 | 15 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 38 | 15 | |||
| Total | 78 | 31 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 78 | 31 | ||||
| Almería | 2010–11 | La Liga | 34 | 7 | 6 | 6 | — | — | 40 | 13 | ||
| 2011–12 | Segunda División | 38 | 28 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 40 | 29 | |||
| 2012–13 | Segunda División | 18 | 4 | 4 | 2 | — | — | 22 | 6 | |||
| Total | 90 | 39 | 12 | 9 | — | — | 102 | 48 | ||||
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 2012–13 | Championship | 17 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 10 |
| 2013–14 | Championship | 33 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 16 | |
| Total | 50 | 23 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 58 | 26 | ||
| Leicester City | 2014–15 | Premier League | 37 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 40 | 13 | |
| 2015–16 | Premier League | 29 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 33 | 6 | ||
| 2016–17 | Premier League | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 1 | |
| Total | 82 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 93 | 20 | ||
| Career total | 360 | 118 | 21 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 391 | 135 | ||
Honours
Club
- Argentine Primera División: Clausura 2007
- Copa Sudamericana: 2007
- Premier League: 2015–16
Individual
- Segunda División: Top scorer 2011–12