Norwich have signed Ritchie De Laet on a year-long loan from Man Utd, 'subject to paperwork being completed'.
Young defender on way to Carrow Road for season
Norwich have signed defender Ritchie De Laet on a season-long loan from Manchester United, 'subject to the relevant paperwork being completed'.
Skysports.com revealed earlier this week the Canaries were on the brink of completing a move for the 22-year-old.
And the Belgian, who joined the Red Devils from Stoke in January 2009 and spent last season at Portsmouth, will now add some defensive cover to Norwich as they look to stay in the Premier League.
Strengths
Manager Paul Lambert told the club's
official website: "He will be great for us. He is young and one of his main strengths is pace and he comes from a great club where he's played first-team football.
"He'll come in and help the other lads out. He's played a lot of first-team games out on loan last season and I'm sure he'll do great for us."
Lambert had been quick to bolster his attacking options with the capture of forwards James Vaughan, Steve Morison and Brighton winger Elliott Bennett.
De Laet is mainly a centre-back, but can also play on the left and made his United first team debut against Hull on the final day of the 2008/2009 season.
The former Royal Antwerp youngster - who also had brief spells with Sheffield United and Preston - is looking forward to gaining more top-flight experience with the Canaries, promoted as runners-up in the Championship.
"I'm really pleased to be able to continue my development as a young player with Norwich, where the manager has given me this chance to come in and fight for a place in the team," he said.
"I know it's going to be very tough because the lads there have done really, really well and it's going to be a big challenge to get into a team which is really used to winning and is a great, tight-knit group.
"The fans there are great as well. I remember that game at Portsmouth when Norwich went up and the fans were superb.
"You could see how much it meant to them and to the club to get back into the Premier League after some difficult years."
Buzz
Norwich begin their first Premier League campaign since 2004/2005 at Wigan.
De Laet feels there is a real buzz about his new club, adding: "I am sure everybody can't wait to get going. Every game will be very tough and competitive, that's what the Premier League is all about.
"I am looking forward to joining in with pre-season training and getting to know the rest of the lads as we all start getting down to some serious work and then the friendlies before the Premier League starts."
