Introduction
Ritchie Ria Alfons De Laet (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrɪtʃi də ˈlaːt], born 28 November 1988) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Championship club Aston Villa.
Club career
Stoke City
Born in Antwerp, De Laet began his career at Belgian club Royal Antwerp. On 17 August 2007, he signed a three-year contract with Championship club Stoke City for an initial £100,000 fee. In July 2008, De Laet joined Bournemouth on trial and played his first game in a friendly against Portsmouth, a 4–1 defeat. However, he later returned to Stoke. In October 2008, he joined Wrexham of the Conference National on a one-month loan deal, making his debut in a 2–0 victory over Lewes in the league. He made three appearances during his time at the club before his loan spell was terminated in order for him to undergo a hernia operation.
Manchester United
On 8 January 2009, De Laet was signed by Premier League champions Manchester United on a three-year contract. The fee to be paid by Manchester United depended on appearances. After joining United, De Laet played exclusively for the club's reserve team. In March 2009, De Laet was named as one of five over-age players in the Manchester United under-18 squad for the Torneo Calcio Memorial Claudio Sassi-Sassuolo; he played in three of the five matches, and scored a penalty in the 5–3 semi-final shootout win over Modena to take the Red Devils into the final, in which they beat Ajax 1–0. De Laet made his first appearance for the Manchester United first team on 24 May 2009, when he was named at left back for the last game of the 2008–09 Premier League season against Hull City. In the 2009–10 season, De Laet featured in the League Cup, coming on as a substitute against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Barnsley in the Third and Fourth Rounds and starting against Tottenham Hotspur in the Fifth. Despite a defensive injury crisis in November 2009, Alex Ferguson preferred to bring midfielder Michael Carrick on for Gary Neville ahead of De Laet, after the United captain suffered a groin strain in the next league match away to West Ham on 5 December. He then played his first league game of the 2009–10 season on 15 December against Wolverhampton Wanderers. He played his second league game against Fulham on 19 December which ended in a 3–0 defeat. On 4 May 2010, he was voted as the Reserve Team Player of the Year, beating Oliver Gill and Magnus Eikrem to the award.
In September 2010, De Laet joined Championship side Sheffield United on a 30-day emergency loan deal after the Blades suffered a defensive injury crisis, with both Chris Morgan and Robert Kozluk ruled out for several weeks. De Laet returned to Old Trafford at the end of his month having made six appearances for the Blades.
On 17 November 2010, De Laet joined Championship team Preston North End on a 28-day loan after an injury to first-team defender Callum Davidson. On 14 January 2011, De Laet joined Portsmouth of the Championship on loan until the end of the 2010–11 season.
Norwich City loan
On 17 June 2011, De Laet joined newly promoted Premier League side Norwich City on loan until the end of the 2011–12 season. He made his debut in a 1–1 draw at Wigan Athletic, conceding the penalty for the Wigan goal. However, he redeemed himself with a number of excellent blocks to retain the scoreline. On 21 August, he scored his first goal for Norwich against former club Stoke City in a 1–1 draw. This was also De Laet's first senior goal. De Laet was sidelined with a back injury whilst at Norwich. He made his return from injury on 27 December 2011 against Tottenham Hotspur in a 2–0 loss. On 18 January 2012, he returned to United after Norwich cancelled his loan.
Leicester City
On 14 May 2012, De Laet signed a three-year deal with Leicester City. He was joined at Leicester by fellow United player Matty James, who signed on the same day. De Laet scored his first goal for Leicester shortly before half time in the 6–1 thrashing of Huddersfield Town on 1 January 2013. He scored his second just four days later, against Burton Albion in the FA Cup 1st Round. De Laet ended his first season with Leicester having played 46 games and scoring twice in all competitions, helping City into the 2012–13 Championship Play-offs. In the 2013–14 season, he helped Leicester gain promotion back to the top flight playing regularly in the first team once more. He featured 35 times scoring 2 goals.
Middlesbrough loan
On 1 February 2016, De Laet joined Championship side Middlesbrough on loan for the remainder of the 2015–16 season. He won promotion with the team on the final day of the season, after a 1–1 draw with Brighton and Hove Albion. This meant that De Laet achieved the unique feat of winning promotion from the Championship and then winning the Premier League title (courtesy of his 12 league appearances for Leicester) in the same season.
Aston Villa
On 23 August 2016, De Laet signed a three-year deal with Championship club Aston Villa.
International career
A few days after his Manchester United debut, De Laet was called up for Belgium's Kirin Cup matches against Chile and Japan. He made his début in the match against Chile on 29 May 2009. He was a regular for the under-21s in the 2011 European Championship qualifying.
Career statistics
Statistics accurate as of match played 15 May 2016.
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Royal Antwerp | 2006–07 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 2007–08 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |||
| Stoke City | 2007–08 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2008–09 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | |||
| Wrexham (loan) | 2008–09 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 3 | 0 | ||
| Manchester United | 2008–09 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2009–10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2010–11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2011–12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| Sheffield United (loan) | 2010–11 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 6 | 0 | ||
| Preston North End (loan) | 2010–11 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 0 | ||
| Portsmouth (loan) | 2010–11 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 22 | 0 | ||
| Norwich City (loan) | 2011–12 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 7 | 1 | ||
| Leicester City | 2012–13 | 41 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | 48 | 2 | |
| 2013–14 | 36 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 38 | 2 | |||
| 2014–15 | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 28 | 0 | |||
| 2015–16 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 15 | 1 | |||
| Total | 115 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | 129 | 5 | ||
| Middlesbrough (loan) | 2015–16 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 10 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 169 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 195 | 6 | |
Honours
Club
Leicester City
- Premier League: 2015–16
- Football League Championship: 2013–14
Middlesbrough
- Football League Championship Runners Up Promotion: 2015–16
Individual
- Manchester United Reserve Team Player of the Year: 2009–10