Aston Villa paid £2.5m to sign Ritchie De Laet in 2016 but will he be playing Premier League football under Dean Smith?
Ritchie De Laet believes his Aston Villa career is over while telling Sporza that he would welcome a return to Belgium with Royal Antwerp.
De Laet became one of the first players to join Villa after their relegation from the Premier League in 2016, arriving in a £2.5 million deal from Leicester City during Roberto Di Matteo’s ill-fated spell in charge (TEAMtalk).
But a serious injury limited him to just eight Championship appearances for the Midland giants before he joined Melbourne City on loan back in September.
And, despite Aston Villa sealing their return to the Promised Land with a play-off final victory against Derby County at Wembley on Monday, De Laet appears to have given up hope of playing top flight football in claret and blue.
“I watched the (play-off final) on television full of excitement,” De Laet told Sporza.
“Aston Villa is a big club and I am glad they made it.
“(But) this chapter is closed. They loaned me out twice, although not under this coach (Dean Smith), but I think I am now ready for the next step in my career.
“What is the next step? If I knew more, I would say it. I already said that Antwerp would be beautiful.”
The two-time Belgium international started his career with Royal Antwerp, making four appearances for the club before moving to England with Stoke City in 2007.
De Laet joined Manchester United a year later but he featured just six times under Sir Alex Ferguson while spending time out on loan at the likes of Middlesbrough and Sheffield United.
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