José Leonardo Ulloa Fernández (; born 26 July 1986) is an Argentine retired professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

. After starting out with

CAI Cai or CAI may refer to: Places * Cai (state), a state in ancient China * Caí River, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * Cái River, Vietnam * Cairo International Airport (IATA airport code) * Caithness, a historic county in Scotland (Chapman code) Or ...

, he joined

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

in 2005, going on to spend the better part of the following years in Spain with Castellón and

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...

, competing in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

with the latter club and also being Segunda División top scorer in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. Ulloa moved to England in 2013, where he represented

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

and

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nation ...

. He won the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

with the latter, in the 2015–16 season.

Club career

Early years and Castellón

Born in

General Roca, Río Negro General Roca is a city in the northeast of the Argentine province of Río Negro, northern Patagonia. It was founded on September 1, 1879, by Colonel Lorenzo Vintter, on the order of War Minister Julio A. Roca, during the Conquest of the Desert. ...

, Ulloa started his career in 2002, playing with

Primera B Nacional Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, in English "National B Division", and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 37 tea ...

side

Comisión de Actividades Infantiles Comisión de Actividades Infantiles (English: ''Committee on Children's Activities''), also known simply as CAI, is an Argentine football club located in the city of Comodoro Rivadavia, of Chubut Province. The team plays in Torneo Argentino A. ...

. In 2005 he moved to the Primera División, signing for

where he was part of the squad that won the 2007 Clausura. Shortly after, Ulloa joined

Arsenal de Sarandí An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. 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. 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,

, signing a five-year contract. On 13 September 2010, in only his second official match for the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

ns, Ulloa scored in the

last minute Last Minute may refer to: *''The Last Minute'', a film from Stephen Norrington *"Last Minute", a song from Marcin Rozynek's album ''Ubieranie do snu'' * Last Minute (band), a band formed by Ryan Primack * "Last Minute" (''Continuum''), the third-s ...

for a 2–2

home draw against

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septemb ...

, after an individual effort. The following month, against the same opponent in the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

'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 beat

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bale ...

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 Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

after finishing a move from countryman

Pablo Piatti Pablo Daniel Piatti (born 31 March 1989) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays for Estudiantes de La Plata. He operates mainly as a left winger, but can also play as a forward. He spent the vast majority of his career in Spain after ...

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

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 16 January 2013, Ulloa transferred to

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

on a four-and-a-half-year deal, for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £2 million. He scored on his debut ten days later, in a 2–3 home loss against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the

fourth round Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

. On 2 March 2013, Ulloa became the first ever player to score a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

Falmer Stadium The Falmer Stadium, known for sponsorship purposes as the American Express Community Stadium and also referred to as the Amex, is a football stadium in the village of Falmer, in the City of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex. With a capacity of 3 ...

, during Brighton's 4–1 win over

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. ...

. Two weeks later he scored twice against

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

in a 3–0 victory, also at home, contributing to his team's first home win in the

M23 derby M, or m, is the thirteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''em'' (pronounced ), plural ''ems''. History Th ...

since 1988; manager

Gus Poyet Gustavo Augusto Poyet Domínguez (; born 15 November 1967) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former footballer. He is currently the head coach of the Greece national football team. Poyet played as a midfielder and began his caree ...

described him as "different class"; he continued his scoring run on the 30th, with his ninth goal in 12 matches coming in a 2–2 draw at

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

. 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 Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

. 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

on a four-year contract for a club record £8 million, being handed the number 23 shirt. He started on his

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 net in his third appearance, against Arsenal on 31 August for another home draw (1–1), and scored the only goal of the match to help defeat

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Sto ...

for the club's first win of

the campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme *Bli ...

. On 21 September 2014, Ulloa contributed with a brace in a 5–3 home win over

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. After nine games without a goal, he scored but in a 2–1 loss at

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa P ...

. During January 2015, Ulloa scored in

victories over

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional Association football, football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football league system, English football. The club was ...

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 Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ...

which saw Leicester move off the bottom of the table for the first time since November 2014. Two weeks later, he scored twice in a 3–0 victory over Newcastle for his team's fifth win from six matches. Under

Claudio Ranieri Claudio Ranieri Grande Ufficiale OMRI (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian football manager and former player. He will be the new head coach of club Cagliari from 1 January 2023. Ranieri began his managerial career in the lower leagues in I ...

, Ulloa played mostly second-fiddle to

Shinji Okazaki is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a forward or attacking midfielder for Belgian club Sint-Truiden. Internationally, he is currently the top active Japan national team goalscorer and third all-time in team history with 50 goa ...

and

Jamie Vardy Jamie Richard Vardy (''né'' Gill; born 11 January 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Leicester City. Regarded as one of the best strikers in the world, Vardy is known for his prolific goalscoring aided ...

in 2015–16, but still managed to contribute 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 of a 1–0 defeat of

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 2 ...

at the

King Power Stadium King Power Stadium (also known as the Leicester City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations and formerly known as the Walkers Stadium) is a football stadium in Leicester, England. It has been the home of Premier League club Leicester Cit ...

on 27 February 2016 which caused celebrations that led to a small earthquake registering on the

Richter scale The Richter scale —also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale—is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Francis Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 p ...

. Ulloa struggled to break into the first team following the signings of

Islam Slimani Islam Slimani ( ar, إسلام سليماني; born 18 June 1988) is an Algerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Brest and the Algeria national team. Slimani began his career in his homeland with JSM Chéraga and CR B ...

and

Ahmed Musa Ahmed Musa (born 14 October 1992) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward and left winger for Turkish Süper Lig club Sivasspor and the Nigeria national team. Musa became the first Nigerian to score more than once in a ...

in 2016–17, prompting an enquiry from Swansea City. He did not start his first league match of the season until 2 January 2017, in a goalless draw against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, and late into that month he submitted a transfer request, which led to bids from Alavés and

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

; these were rejected, as well as a subsequent loan offer from

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other dep ...

, leading the player to express in a

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

post that he felt "betrayed by Ranieri" and vowed not to play for Leicester again. 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. On 24 August 2017, aged 31, Ulloa signed a new contract at Leicester, extending his stay with the club until June 2019. 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; thus, on 29 January 2018, he completed a loan move to Brighton & Hove Albion for his second spell. Ulloa scored his first goal for Brighton since 2014 on 17 February 2018, in a home 3–1 home win against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the ...

the FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

. His first in the league came on 9 May, but in a 3–1 loss at

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two ...

; shortly after, having appeared in 12 competitive matches, he revealed he was hoping to earn a permanent move to the club.

Pachuca

On 10 August 2018, Ulloa joined Liga MX club

Pachuca Pachuca (; ote, Nju̱nthe), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Hidalgo. It is located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca de Soto is also the name of the municipality of whi ...

. His first goal for his new team, a header, opened the scoring in a 2–0 win over

Celaya Celaya (; ) is a city and its surrounding municipality in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, located in the southeast quadrant of the state. It is the third most populous city in the state, with a 2005 census population of 310,413. The municipality f ...

in the

Copa MX The Copa MX (formerly called Copa Tower Monterrey, Copa Eliminatoria, Copa México and Copa Corona MX (for sponsorship reasons)) was a Mexican football cup competition that was established in 1907. After a lengthy hiatus that began in 1997, it ...

Rayo Vallecano

On 30 August 2019, Pachuca announced Ulloa's departure to

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La ...

via

International career

In late 2014 Ulloa, whose grandfather was born in Chile, had an offer from

Chile national team Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

manager

Jorge Sampaoli Jorge Luis Sampaoli Moya (; born 13 March 1960) is an Argentine football coach who is currently manager for Sevilla of La Liga. Sampaoli started out as a youth player and eventually switched to management after a severe injury. Sampaoli star ...

to become naturalized and represent them, but he declined it.

Personal life

Ulloa was one of up to 20 top footballers named in the

Panama Papers The Panama Papers ( es, Papeles de Panamá) are 11.5 million leaked documents (or 2.6 terabytes of data) that were published beginning on April 3, 2016. The papers detail financial and attorney–client information for more than 214,488 ...

, 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 Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

in the name of two companies registered in

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

. 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.

Career statistics

Honours

San Lorenzo *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). T ...

: 2007 Clausura Arsenal Sarandí *

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American fo ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

Leicester City *

: 2015–16 Individual * Segunda División top scorer: 2011–12

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ulloa, Leonardo 1986 births Living people People from General Roca Argentine sportspeople of Chilean descent Argentine footballers Association football forwards Argentine Primera División players Primera Nacional players Comisión de Actividades Infantiles footballers San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers Arsenal de Sarandí footballers Olimpo footballers La Liga players Segunda División players CD Castellón footballers UD Almería players Rayo Vallecano players Premier League players English Football League players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Liga MX players C.F. Pachuca players Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Mexico Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in England Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Mexico People named in the Panama Papers