Stoke City Born in
Antwerp, De Laet began his career at Belgian club
Royal Antwerp. 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.
Manchester United , 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. 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. 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 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. 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. De Laet returned to
Old Trafford at the end of his month having made six appearances for the Blades. 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. 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. 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
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. 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. He eventually lost his place in the first team to
Danny Simpson.
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.
Aston Villa On 23 August 2016, De Laet signed a three-year deal with Championship club Aston Villa. On 14 September 2016, he was injured in the 67th minute in a 1–1 league game against
Brentford. Scans later revealed the injury to be a season-ending one.
Royal Antwerp loan On 23 January 2018, De Laet rejoined
Royal Antwerp on loan for the remainder of the
season.
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. 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. 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. 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. 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. He was released by Aston Villa at the end of the 2018–19 season.
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. During the
2022–23 season, De Laet was part of the squad that won the domestic double, including the club's first league title in 66 years. ==International career==