Ritchie De Laet

Ritchie Ria Alfons De Laet (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrɪtɕi də ˈlaːt]; born 28 November 1988) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a defender.

[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.

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.

[11] 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.

[13] On 17 June 2011, De Laet joined newly promoted Premier League side Norwich City on loan until the end of the 2011–12 season.

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.

[25] 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.

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.

De Laet (front), with Darron Gibson , at Manchester United to Birmingham City on 16 August 2009
De Laet playing for Portsmouth against Cardiff City on 16 April 2011