Ritchie De Laet
 De Laet in 2010 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ritchie Ria Alfons De Laet[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 28 November 1988[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Antwerp, Belgium | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) [2] | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Leicester City | ||
| 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– | Leicester City | 93 | (3) |
| 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 22:39, 1 January 2015 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). | |||
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 English club Leicester City.
Club career
Stoke City
Born in Antwerp, De Laet began his career at Belgian club Royal Antwerp.[1] On 17 August 2007, he signed a three-year contract with Championship club Stoke City for an initial £100,000 fee.[3] 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.[4]
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 will depend on De Laet's performances for the club.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8]
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.[9] De Laet returned to Old Trafford at the end of his month having made six appearances for the Blades.[10]
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.[11] On 14 January 2011, De Laet joined Portsmouth of the Championship on loan until the end of the 2010–11 season.[12]
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.[13] 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.[14] On 18 January 2012, he returned to United after Norwich cancelled his loan on immediate effect.[14]
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.[15] De Laet scored his first goal for Leicester shortly before half time in the 6–1 thrashing of Huddersfield Town on 1 January 2013.[16] He scored his second just 4 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.
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.[17] He made his début in the match against Chile on 29 May 2009.[18] He was a regular for the under-21s in the 2011 European Championship qualifying.
Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other[nb 1] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Royal Antwerp | 2006–07[19] | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 2007–08[20] | 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 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 17 | 0 | |||
| Total | 93 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | 103 | 4 | ||
| Career total | 141 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 161 | 4 | |
Statistics accurate as of 3 January 2015.
Honours
Club
Leicester City
Individual
Notes
- ↑ Includes other competitive competitions, including the Belgian Second Division Promotion play-offs, Football League play-offs, FA Community Shield, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 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.
- ↑ "Barclays Premier League Player Profile Ritchie De Laet". web page. Premier League. 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
- ↑ "De Laet Signs!". Stoke City F.C. 17 August 2007. Retrieved 17 August 2007.
- ↑ "Tsiaklis agrees Wrexham extension". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 2 December 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
- ↑ "Man Utd sign De Laet from Stoke". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 8 January 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
- ↑ Bartram, Steve (13 April 2009). "Reds reign in Italy". ManUtd.com (Manchester United). Retrieved 17 April 2009.
- ↑ Hughes, Ian (24 May 2009). "Hull 0–1 Man Utd". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- ↑ Bostock, Adam (4 May 2009). "De Laet's delight". ManUtd.com (Manchester United). Retrieved 29 July 2010.
- ↑ "Blades bring in defender". Sheffield United F.C. 24 September 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
- ↑ "Loan still in the mix". Sheffield United F.C. (Sheffield United FC). 28 October 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
- ↑ "De Laet Signs On Loan". pnefc.net (Preston North End FC). 17 November 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2010.
- ↑ "Pompey pounce for De Laet". Sky Sports (BSkyB). 14 January 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
- ↑ "Top-flight loan for De Laet". ManUtd.com (Manchester United). 17 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Norwich cancel De Laet loan". SkySports.com (Sky Sports). 18 January 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2012.
- ↑ "Agreement reached for United Duo". lcfc.com. Leicester City FC. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
- ↑ "Leicester 6-1 Huddersfield". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 1 January 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
- ↑ "Nainggolan en Kitoko zijn Rode Duivels". Sporza. 27 May 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
- ↑ "Chile and Belgium draw in Kirin Cup". Yahoo! Philippines News (Yahoo! Southeast Asia). 30 May 2009. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
- ↑ "Spelersstatistiek Ritchie De Laet" (in Dutch). R.A.F.C.-Museum. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
- ↑ "Spelersstatistiek Ritchie De Laet" (in Dutch). R.A.F.C.-Museum. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ritchie De Laet. |
- Profile at ManUtd.com
- Ritchie De Laet career statistics at Soccerbase
- Belgium stats at Belgian FA
| ||||||