Ritchie De Laet
De Laet with Manchester United in 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]
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 Royal Antwerp
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)
2016–2019 Aston Villa 8 (0)
2018 → Royal Antwerp (loan) 6 (0)
2018–2019 → Melbourne City (loan) 25 (7)
2019– Royal Antwerp 133 (2)
2024 → Perak FC (loan) 0 (0)
International career
2009 Belgium U21 4 (0)
2009 Belgium 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 October 2023

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 Royal Antwerp in the Belgian First Division A.

De Laet played for various youth teams before joining the Royal Antwerp youth academy, where he was eventually picked up by Stoke City in 2007. Two years later, De Laet was signed by Premier League champions Manchester United where he mainly appeared for the reserves besides being sent on loan spells. In 2012, he joined Leicester City where he played more consistently and was part of the historic team winning the 2015–16 Premier League. He then had a three-year stint with Aston Villa, before returning to Royal Antwerp in 2019.

De Laet made his international debut for Belgium in 2009, and gained two caps for the national team.

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 AFC 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 Denzil Haroun Reserve Team Player of the Year, beating Oliver Gill and Magnus Wolff 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 helped Middlesbrough achieve promotion 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 playing with a club 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 September 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 Manchester United reserve team manager Warren Joyce.[26] De Laet, who was stand-in captain at the time, scored on debut in the Melbourne Derby in front of 40,504 supporters, pouncing on a rebound in the 40th minute after a controversial penalty, awarded by the VAR, was missed.[27]

In early 2019, Joyce shifted De Laet from defense to centre-forward with Ritchie scoring two goals in this position on 22 January 2019 against Western Sydney Wanderers as City defeated the Wanderers 4-3.[28] De Laet's first goal in this match set a new club record for fastest ever goal in the A-League. Ritchie latched onto a loose back-pass from Keanu Baccus, took one touch to round WSW goalkeeper Nicholas Suman, before slotting the ball into the back of an empty net on the 30-second mark. The time beat Richard Garcia's previous club record of 34 seconds, set when the team was still named Melbourne Heart prior to the 2014 City Football Group takeover.[29] The following day, De Laet revealed in an interview that the role of striker was not unfamiliar to him as Joyce used to play him in that role at the Manchester United Reserves when he was a youngster.[30]

He was released by Aston Villa at the end of the 2018–19 season.[31]

Return to Royal Antwerp

On 29 June 2019, after he was released by Aston Villa, it was announced by Royal Antwerp that he would sign permanently with the club that his career began at.[32]

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.[33] He made his debut in the match against Chile on 29 May 2009.[34] De Laet was a regular for the under-21s in the 2011 European Championship qualifying.

Career statistics

As of match played 13 November 2022[35]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] League cup[lower-alpha 2] Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Royal Antwerp 2006–07[36] Belgian Second Division 3000——5[lower-alpha 3]080
2007–08[37] Belgian Second Division 1000———10
Total 4000——5090
Stoke City 2007–08 Championship 000000——00
2008–09 Premier League 000000——00
Total 000000——00
Wrexham (loan) 2008–09 Football Conference 3000———30
Manchester United 2008–09 Premier League 100000000010
2009–10 Premier League 200030000050
2010–11 Premier League 000000000000
2011–12 Premier League 000000000000
Total 300030000060
Sheffield United (loan) 2010–11 Championship 600000——60
Preston North End (loan) 2010–11 Championship 500000——50
Portsmouth (loan) 2010–11 Championship 2200000——220
Norwich City (loan) 2011–12 Premier League 610010——71
Leicester City 2012–13 Championship 4113120—2[lower-alpha 4]0482
2013–14 Championship 3621010——382
2014–15 Premier League 2602000——280
2015–16 Premier League 1211020——151
Total 11547160—201295
Middlesbrough (loan) 2015–16 Championship 1000000——100
Aston Villa 2016–17 Championship 300000——30
2017–18 Championship 501030——90
2018–19 Championship 000020——20
Total 801050——130
Royal Antwerp (loan) 2017–18 Belgian Pro League 6000——8[lower-alpha 5]0140
Melbourne City (loan) 2018–19 A-League 25710———267
Royal Antwerp 2019–20 Belgian Pro League 22041—2[lower-alpha 6]0—281
2020–21 Belgian Pro League 39021—7[lower-alpha 6]1—482
2021–22 Belgian Pro League 33110—8[lower-alpha 6]0—421
2022–23 Belgian Pro League 17110—6[lower-alpha 7]0—241
Total 111282—231—1425
Career total 3241417314023115039318
  1. ↑ Includes FA Cup, FFA Cup, Belgian Cup
  2. ↑ Includes Football League Cup
  3. ↑ Appearances in Belgian Pro League promotion play-offs
  4. ↑ Appearances in Championship play-offs
  5. ↑ Appearances in Belgian Pro League Europa League play-offs
  6. 1 2 3 Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  7. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

Honours

Leicester City

Middlesbrough

Royal Antwerp

Individual

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. 1 2 "Ritchie De Laet: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
  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. Archived from the original on 16 April 2009. 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. 1 2 Bostock, Adam (4 May 2009). "De Laet's delight". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Archived from the original on 8 May 2010. 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, archived from the original on 18 June 2016, 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. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  26. ↑ "Melbourne City FC signs defender Ritchie De Laet". Melbourne City FC. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  27. ↑ Colangelo, Anthony (20 October 2018). "City spoil Victory's Honda welcome party". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  28. ↑ Lynch, Michael (22 January 2019). "Late winner gets City home in goalfest". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  29. ↑ "Ritchie De Laet has scored Melbourne City's fastest ever A-League goal". Fox Sports Australia. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  30. ↑ Tito, Clement (23 January 2019). "De Laet: I'm playing for a contract". ftbl.com.au. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  31. ↑ "Aston Villa: Micah Richards and Albert Adomah among eight players released". BBC Sport. 1 June 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  32. ↑ "OFFICIEEL: Antwerp haalt De Laet terug naar de Bosuil". Voetbal Primeur. 29 June 2019. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  33. ↑ "Nainggolan en Kitoko zijn Rode Duivels". Sporza. 27 May 2009. Archived from the original on 29 May 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
  34. ↑ "Chile and Belgium draw in Kirin Cup". Yahoo! Philippines News. Yahoo! Southeast Asia. 30 May 2009. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
  35. ↑ Ritchie De Laet at Soccerway
  36. ↑ "Spelersstatistiek Ritchie De Laet" (in Dutch). R.A.F.C.-Museum. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  37. ↑ "Spelersstatistiek Ritchie De Laet" (in Dutch). R.A.F.C.-Museum. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  38. ↑ Anderson, John, ed. (2014). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2014–2015. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 200–201. ISBN 978-1-4722-1251-1.
  39. ↑ Anderson, John, ed. (2016). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2016–2017. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 234–235. ISBN 978-1-4722-3395-0.
  40. ↑ "Geen schoonheidsprijs, wel een vierde beker: Antwerp maakt favorietenrol waar tegen KV Mechelen" (in Dutch). Sporza. 30 April 2023.
  41. ↑ "Antwerp wint nu ook de Supercup! KV Mechelen plooit pas na strafschoppen" (in Dutch). Sporza. 23 July 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
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