This article contains adult content that may be inappropriate for minors. Please confirm that you are 18 years or older to continue. This article contains images or details that some readers may find disturbing. Reader discretion is advised. Leonardo Ulloa was part of Leicester's unforgettable Premier League triumph in the 2015/16 season. However, knowing he was not one of the team's most prominent forwards, the Argentine considered a change of scenery after that season. "I had two offers from the Premier League that would pay me double and give me the chance to play," he told the You Tube channel Offsiders. But he decided to stay, until the situation soured with a signing from Sporting. "Claudio Ranieri told me he would need me because we were going to have the Champions League and three domestic competitions. He said I would get playing time." Ulloa was concerned about his position because in addition to Jamie Vardy and Shinji Okazaki, Ahmed Musa had arrived to strengthen the attack. "Ranieri told me they weren't bringing anyone else in, and I believed him." Unfortunately for Ulloa, Leicester ended up signing Islam Slimani at the end of the summer transfer window from Sporting for €30 million. That was when the relationship between the Argentine and Claudio Ranieri practically ended. "On the last day of the transfer window, as is customary in England, Leicester paid €30 million for Slimani. I went to Ranieri's office and asked him, 'What is this?' He told me he didn't know, that it was a club decision. Do you know how I felt? Disgusted. I told him many things and went to speak with the sporting director [Jonathan Rudkin], who had the bright idea of telling me that I could go on loan to Brighton. I felt like grabbing him by the neck." Slimani had just come off the best season of his career, scoring 31 goals in 46 matches for Sporting. In his debut season with Leicester, he scored eight goals in 29 appearances, but halfway through the following season, he was loaned out and never returned as a regular option. As for Ulloa, relations soured to the point where the player made a threat to Claudio Ranieri: "I told him I wouldn't play for him anymore, not even when he needed me. I started training less, I was very irritated and angry because I knew I wouldn't play, because they didn't renew my contract or sell me. I started feeling pain in my quadriceps and stopped training. The games went by, and I went to the club to fulfill my hours." Ulloa remained linked to the club until 2018, with Ranieri being dismissed just nine months after winning the championship.
Leicester Paid Sporting remains central to this story.
Leicester Paid Sporting remains central to this story.
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