The 27-year-old Belgian defender joined the Championship side from Leicester City on Wednesday on a three-year deal.
Aston Villa managed to see off competition from Premier League clubs to sign Ritchie De Laet, manager Roberto Di Matteo has revealed.
De Laet was officially confirmed as Villa’s seventh signing of the summer on Wednesday, joining the Championship new boys from Leicester City for around £2.5 million after being deemed expendable by Foxes boss Claudio Ranieri.
The 27-year-old Belgian right-back, who has penned a three-year deal with the claret and blues, was not short of options this summer when it became clear he had no future at the King Power Stadium, but Di Matteo insists that he was set on coming to Villa as soon as he was made aware of their interest.
Speaking about De Laet at his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s trip to Bristol City, the Italian said: “I knew a lot about him. When we try and sign players we do a lot of research about the player in every department.
“He was also a player who was very keen to join us. He made a big effort to come to us. He had other options on the table, including Premier League. But he wanted to come here.
“That’s the type of personality we want in this group. We want players who want to be here and want to play for us and want to be part of this project.”
De Laet featured 129 times for Leicester after joining the club from Manchester United in the summer of 2012, helping them win the Championship title in 2014 before going on to make 26 Premier League appearances over the following season as they pulled of their great escape from relegation.
He eventually lost his starting spot to the impressive Danny Simpson early last term, but a loan spell at Middlesbrough over the second half of the campaign saw the two-time capped Belgian international add another promotion to his résumé after making nine starts in 10 outings for Aitor Karanka’s side.
He is now expected to be Villa’s first-choice right-back over Alan Hutton and Leandro Bacuna going forward and should make his debut at Ashton Gate this weekend along with fellow newcomer Mile Jedinak.
“It was a position that wasn’t covered with two players,” Di Matteo said at his press conference on signing De Laet. “He is a player who has good experience at Championship level and Premier League level. He has had promotions.
“I have not been surprised by what I have seen of him on the training pitch. He works very well and I am very pleased he has joined us.”
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