Ritchie De Laet

Ritchie De Laet
De Laet with Manchester United in April 2010
Personal information
Full name Ritchie Ria Alfons De Laet[1]
Date of birth (1988-11-28) 28 November 1988[2]
Place of birth Antwerp, Belgium
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[3]
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current team
 Melbourne City
(on loan from Aston Villa)
Number 2
Youth career
1994–1998 KSK Hoboken
1998–1999 Mechelen
1999–2004 KSK Hoboken
2004–2005 KFCO Wilrijk
2005–2006 Royal Antwerp
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2007 Royal Antwerp 4 (0)
2007–2009 Stoke City 0 (0)
2008 → Wrexham (loan) 3 (0)
2009–2012 Manchester United 3 (0)
2010 → Sheffield United (loan) 6 (0)
2010 → Preston North End (loan) 5 (0)
2011 → Portsmouth (loan) 22 (0)
2011–2012 → Norwich City (loan) 6 (1)
2012–2016 Leicester City 115 (4)
2016 → Middlesbrough (loan) 10 (0)
2016– Aston Villa 8 (0)
2018 → Royal Antwerp (loan) 5 (0)
2018– → Melbourne City (loan) 0 (0)
National team
2009 Belgium U21 4 (0)
2009 Belgium 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01:23, 14 September 2018 (UTC)

Ritchie Ria Alfons De Laet (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrɪci də ˈlaːt], born 28 November 1988) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Melbourne City, on loan from Aston Villa.

Club career

Stoke City

Born in Antwerp, De Laet began his career at Belgian club Royal Antwerp.[2] On 17 August 2007, he signed a three-year contract with Championship team Stoke City for an initial £100,000 fee.[4] 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.[5]

Manchester United

De Laet (front), with Darron Gibson, at Manchester United to Birmingham City on 16 August 2009

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.[6] 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 penalty shoot-out win over Modena to take the Red Devils into the final, in which they beat Ajax 1–0.[7] 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.[8]

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 United on 5 December. He then played his first league game of the 2009–10 season on 15 December against Wolverhampton Wanderers. De Laet 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.[9]

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 Rob Kozluk ruled out for several weeks.[10] De Laet returned to Old Trafford at the end of his month having made six appearances for the Blades.[11]

De Laet playing for Portsmouth against Cardiff City on 16 April 2011

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.[12] On 14 January 2011, De Laet joined Portsmouth of the Championship on loan until the end of the 2010–11 season.[13]

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.[14] 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.[15] On 18 January 2012, he returned to United after Norwich cancelled his loan.[15]

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.[16] De Laet scored his first goal for Leicester shortly before half time in the 6–1 thrashing of Huddersfield Town on 1 January 2013.[17] He scored his second just four days later, against Burton Albion in the first round of the FA Cup. De Laet ended his first season with Leicester having played 46 games and scoring twice in all competitions, steering City into the 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. De Laet featured 35 times scoring two goals.[18]

In the 2015–16 season, De Laet started the first seven games for Leicester, scoring his last goal for the club in a 3–2 win over Aston Villa on 13 September 2015.[19] He eventually lost his place in the first team to Danny Simpson.[20]

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 & 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.[21]

Aston Villa

On 23 August 2016, De Laet signed a three-year deal with Championship club Aston Villa.[22] On 14 December 2016, he was injured in the 67th minute in a 1–1 league game against Brentford.[23] Scans later revealed the injury to be a season-ending one.[24]

Royal Antwerp loan

On 23 January 2018, De Laet rejoined Royal Antwerp on loan for the remainder of the season.[25]

Melbourne City loan

In September 2018, De Laet completed a loan move to Melbourne City of the A-League; reuniting with former coach Warren Joyce.[26]

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.[27] He made his debut in the match against Chile on 29 May 2009.[28] De Laet was a regular for the under-21s in the 2011 European Championship qualifying.

Career statistics

Dean Hammond, Leonardo Ulloa and De Laet with Leicester City in a league match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 23 August 2014
Statistics accurate as of 14 September 2018.
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Other[nb 1] Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Royal Antwerp 2006–07[29] 3000––5080
2007–08[30] 1000–––10
Total 4000––5090
Stoke City 2007–08 000000––00
2008–09 000000––00
Total 000000––00
Wrexham (loan) 2008–09 300000––30
Manchester United 2008–09 100000000010
2009–10 200030000050
2010–11 000000000000
2011–12 000000000000
Total 300030000060
Sheffield United (loan) 2010–11 600000––60
Preston North End (loan) 2010–11 500000––50
Portsmouth (loan) 2010–11 2200000––220
Norwich City (loan) 2011–12 610010––71
Leicester City 2012–13 4113120–20482
2013–14 3621010––382
2014–15 2602000––280
2015–16 1211020––151
Middlesbrough (loan) 2015–16 1000000––100
Total 11547150–201295
Aston Villa 2016–17 300000––30
2017–18 501030––90
2018–19 0 0 0 0 2 0 – – 2 0
Total 801040–00130
Royal Antwerp (loan) 2017–18 600000–8 0140
Melbourne City (loan) 2018–19 0000––0 000
Career total 188581140001502256

Honours

Leicester City

Middlesbrough

  • Football League Championship runner-up: 2015–16

Individual

Notes

References

  1. ↑ "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Aston Villa" (PDF). English Football League. p. 2. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  2. 1 2 Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Mainstream Publishing. p. 113. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
  3. ↑ "Barclays Premier League Player Profile Ritchie De Laet". web page. Premier League. 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  4. ↑ "De Laet Signs!". Stoke City F.C. 17 August 2007. Archived from the original on 30 January 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2007.
  5. ↑ "Tsiaklis agrees Wrexham extension". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 2 December 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  6. ↑ "Man Utd sign De Laet from Stoke". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 8 January 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  7. ↑ Bartram, Steve (13 April 2009). "Reds reign in Italy". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
  8. ↑ Hughes, Ian (24 May 2009). "Hull 0–1 Man Utd". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
  9. ↑ Bostock, Adam (4 May 2009). "De Laet's delight". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
  10. ↑ "Blades bring in defender". Sheffield United F.C. 24 September 2010. Archived from the original on 26 September 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  11. ↑ "Loan still in the mix". Sheffield United F.C. Sheffield United FC. 28 October 2010. Archived from the original on 15 November 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
  12. ↑ "De Laet Signs On Loan". pnefc.net. Preston North End FC. 17 November 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
  13. ↑ "Pompey pounce for De Laet". Sky Sports. BSkyB. 14 January 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
  14. ↑ "Top-flight loan for De Laet". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  15. 1 2 "Norwich cancel De Laet loan". SkySports.com. Sky Sports. 18 January 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2012.
  16. ↑ "Agreement reached for United Duo". lcfc.com. Leicester City FC. 15 May 2012. Archived from the original on 18 May 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  17. ↑ "Leicester 6–1 Huddersfield". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 1 January 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  18. ↑ "Ritchie de Laet - Football Statistics - Form Guide - Squawka.com". www.squawka.com.
  19. ↑ Andy Cryer (13 September 2015), Leicester City 3-2 Aston Villa, BBC Sport, retrieved 4 June 2017
  20. ↑ James Sharpe (17 June 2016), Leicester City defender Ritchie De Laet vows to fight for his place in the side, Leicester Mercury, retrieved 4 June 2017
  21. ↑ "Which Leicester players get a Premier League winners' medal?". Sky Sports. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  22. ↑ "De Laet Joins Villa". 23 August 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  23. ↑ "Aston Villa 1–1 Brentford". 14 September 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  24. ↑ "Ritchie De Laet: Aston Villa defender ruled out after sustaining serious knee injury". 16 September 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  25. ↑ "Antwerp Bereikt Overeenkomst Met Ritchie De Laet" (in Dutch). Royal Antwerp Official Site. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  26. ↑ "Melbourne City FC signs defender Ritchie De Laet". Melbourne City Official Site. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  27. ↑ "Nainggolan en Kitoko zijn Rode Duivels". Sporza. 27 May 2009. Archived from the original on 29 May 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
  28. ↑ "Chile and Belgium draw in Kirin Cup". Yahoo! Philippines News. Yahoo! Southeast Asia. 30 May 2009. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
  29. ↑ "Spelersstatistiek Ritchie De Laet" (in Dutch). R.A.F.C.-Museum. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  30. ↑ "Spelersstatistiek Ritchie De Laet" (in Dutch). R.A.F.C.-Museum. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  31. ↑ "Ritchie de Laet: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
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