University of Sports It is going through an important moment in both the Liga 1 and the Copa Sudamericana 2023. The wins in both tournaments also reflect an improvement in the level of reinforcements in this new season and the Creme fans have publicly acknowledged that in recent days. One of the most prominent players for the fans is Rodrigo Urena, who has established himself as the starting anchor of the team. The Chilean footballer has played all kinds of games from the start since arriving at ‘U’.
Rodrigo Ureña has performed correctly so far this season but he has only recently had more media exposure after making several statements to the press in recent weeks. Having said that, the central midfielder was able to ‘speak’ more on the field than off it, and today he is recognized as one of the key figures of the team by both journalists and the Universitario fans themselves.
Rodrigo Ureña is the undisputed headline figure of the Universitario de Deportes. Photo: GLR archives
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Rodrigo Ureña and his transfer to the sports university
Rodrigo Ureña played the 2022 season at Deportes Tolima. The Chilean midfielder had a good time at ‘Pijao’, a club where he started most of his games. Ureña played a total of 46 games with the team between La Liga, Copa Colombia and Copa Libertadores. Ureña was already known in Colombia for his two seasons in América de Cali in previous years, but it wasn’t until Tolima that he had more consistency.
Universitario drew on Rodrigo Ureña’s signing to replace Claudio Yacob who failed to perform as expected given the excellent CV he had prior to joining Peruvian football. The Chilean footballer came with the testimony of having been an integral part of his club last season, in addition to the important achievements of being champions in the Colombian league in 2020 and 2021. So far he has played 16 games at ‘U’, and always as the owner.
Rodrigo Ureña won the Colombian Super League with Deportes Tolima in 2022. Photo: Tolima Sports
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How much is Rodrigo Ureña worth and until when does he have his contract at Universitario?
According to Transfermarkt, Rodrigo Ureña is worth around €750,000 since arriving at the university. He is the most expensive player in the squad alongside Andy Polo and Piero Quispe. That’s the market value the 30-year-old Chilean footballer has achieved throughout his career since making his professional debut with Cobresal in 2014. Before joining Colombian football, he played for several teams in his country.
Rodrigo Ureña signed a contract with the Universitario until December 2023 after his release from Deportes Tolima. The Chilean’s performances suggest he could easily extend for at least another year as he has already outperformed the foreign signings in recent seasons of the “U” in its position, such as Yacob and Ángel Cayetano. As proof of that, Alfonso Barco and Jorge Murrugarra have never been starters when he was.