Leonardo Ulloa was part of Leicester City’s title winning squad during the 2015/16 season.
The Argentine scored six goals and registered three assists from 29 league games that season. A season prior to that, he managed 13 goals and three assists for Leicester City.
Ulloa retired from football in 2021 and has now had a chat with Olé in Argentina to review his playing career.
He first arrived in England when Brighton & Hove Albion signed him from UD Almería in January 2013. Leicester took him from the Seagulls in July 2014 and the former forward left them for Mexican side CF Pachuca in 2018.
Ulloa had several opportunities to leave the King Power Stadium and continue in England after Leicester’s title winning season. He had asked the Foxes and Claudio Ranieri, who was then in charge, to sanction a move.
The former Brighton man explains Ranieri had promised that he would have a key role at Leicester and assured him a new contract was on the way. That didn’t happen and he’s accused the Italian of lying.
“I had a fight with Ranieri. After that season, I had three offers from English clubs where I would have had a much better chance of playing, where I would earn more money, and where I would feel more important,” he said.
“So, during pre0season in Los Angeles, I sat down with him with the desire to leave the club. At that time, Claudio told me to stay calm, that I would be important, and that he wanted my contract renewed.
“However, on the last day of the window, Leicester bought Islam Slimani’s transfer for £30m. There, I confronted Ranieri, told him he was terrible because he had lied to me about bringing in a striker and that I wasn’t going to play anymore. In fact, I didn’t play for four months after winning the championship.”
The South American was only able to return to the Leicester squad after Ranieri was replaced by Craig Shakespeare.
“Shaky took over as head coach because Ranieri was fired, and at his and the owner’s requests, I decided to return to coaching and playing. In fact, I played in the first league game against Arsenal,” Ulloa explained.
“The fight with Ranieri came about because he messed with me. At the time, I spoke to the media, and the fans were angry with me until they later began to understand the situation. The Leicester fans love me very much, and I love them very much. I have very fond memories of the club.”
