Leo Ulloa loves Leicester - but he admits leaving Brighton and Hove was so tough

Premier League champion, scorer of precious goals and part of a title-winning house party that went down in legend.

Now, as the Leicester City striker enjoys an informal tour of honour of his homeland in Argentina, he has told The Argus how he initially struggled to adapt to life in the East Midlands. And he has revealed how much he missed Brighton, Hove – and the family he left behind.

Ulloa is back home in the Patagonian town of General Roca, where he always received a warm welcome thanks to the progress he has made in his footballing career. One day he may well take his wife and two daughters back there to settle.

But, during the 2013-14 season, his home was the attractive and handily central location of Palmeira Square in cosmopolitan Brighton and Hove.

Leo Ulloa watches with fans as Albion play Tottenham

He initially planned to commute from there when he signed for Leicester, staying over for a few days at a time when necessary, so as not to uproot his family again. But a re-think on those plans, and the arrival in the King Power changing room of a compatriot, set him up for the season of his dreams.

Albion fans still follow Ulloa’s career closely and delight in his success. The Seagulls have pocketed a couple of nice bonuses thanks to Leicester’s performances.

But supporters might not be aware of the attraction the city holds to a player who only wore the stripes for a season-and-a-half.

A bold new start as Ulloa joins Leicester City

He is at home in the East Midlands now but, asked if it was a smooth transition, he told The Argus: “No, it wasn’t easy – impossible! I missed Brighton. Brighton was my first city in England, my first team and I like the city, the fans, the club. It was a good time there.

“When I arrived here at Leicester it was all different. I was alone here. There were no Latin American or Spanish people.

“When I arrived at Brighton we had Spanish players, a Uruguayan coach, an Argentinean coach. Now, here, everyone only spoke English.

“But, after three weeks, Esteban Cambiasso arrived and changed my life a little bit.

“There was an Argentinean player. We have the same culture, we drink mate, we talk together and everything was easier after that. Adapting together was much better – to the team, the club and the city.”

Ulloa should be used to transition. As well as leaving home at 16, he moved to Spain as a young man and, when the chance to come to England arose, left five-months pregnant wife Maria back in Almeria while he completed the 2012-13 season with Albion.

Ulloa dedicates an Albion goal to his watching family

The family moved across during the summer of 2013 and eldest daughter Sofia settled into Year Two in a Hove school. She quickly became a star pupil, earning commendations for her academic work and her efforts on the netball court, where a willingness to be supportive of team-mates stood out.

So, when autumn term of 2014 rolled around, Ulloa was back at the school gates in Hove on days off, dropping her off before driving back up the M1 for training the next day.

The arrangement lasted one term as he desperately tried to save the family from another uproot.

“It was a little difficult in the first couple of months because I missed my wife and children,” he said.

“I started to play well. I was in the XI. I was scoring goals in the Premier League. But I missed them and after about four months, I thought ‘I don’t see how I can stay in this situation’.

Two-goal Ulloa and Dean Hammond celebrate against Manchester United

“I brought them here to Leicester which was hard because I think my family like Brighton as well. But they came here and the adaptation was very good.

“Sofia is so happy at school and Morena (born a few days after the 2013 play-off semi-finals) is starting nursery and doing well. If they are happy, I am happy. The family is good.”

It has turned out to be the move of a lifetime.

“It was a little crazy at the end of the season with the party and the celebration with the team,” he said.

“But now we are a little relaxed. It was an amazing moment but now it is relaxed with the family.

“We had the bus tour, the ceremony, dinners, we went to Thailand and we enjoyed together this massive moment.

“I don’t know exactly what is the Leicester secret but we were always like a family. Every training session, every day together, we fight together and help each other.

“The character and the spirit of the team is that – fight together and after we try to play in the system. But the first thing is to be together, be compact, that is our philosophy.

Ulloa was an instant hit with the Foxes, scoring early on his debut against Everton, hitting the winner at Stoke and adding a brace in the 5-3 defeat of Manchester United. He had a great relationship with old-school English boss Nigel Pearson.

But things changed under Claudio Ranieri and he was known as a substitute or stand-in during the title season.

“It was difficult at the beginning of the season,” he acknowledged. “In my first season I had a big role with the team and I was leading scorer (with 11 league goals, six more than Jamie Vardy).

“Last season I started on the bench. It took me one or two months to think about this and my new role in the team.

“But then I thought I needed to work, to train well, be ready for when the team needed me.

“It was so difficult in the beginning. But at one point I changed my mentality, I worked hard and I wanted to be ready for when I got the opportunity.

“Claudio didn’t say anything to me. He just put the team up, one to 11. But after, at the end of the season, he talked to me about it. He said he understood it was a very difficult season for me but told me I helped the team a lot.

“That was okay. It was difficult but I’m happy now – but at the beginning of the season, no I wasn’t.”

Ulloa still maintains there were not massive differences between the Foxes team which finished 2014-15 so strongly and that which took the title.

But he has revealed which player he believes gave them something extra.

He said: “The first season was so hard. Leicester City had not been in the Championship for about ten years. At the end we were happy just to still be in the Premier League.

“In the last ten games, we needed to win eight games for safety – and I think we won nine! We started to show our philosophy and character at that time. We continued the same this year.

“The beginning was good and we continued to work the same. Ranieri changed details – defending, some tactics.

“But the big point was we brought in N’Golo Kante. He is a machine.”