De Vries was a big, tough Dutch centre forward who was more suited to the British game than that of his home country. He arrived in Britain with Hearts and their manager Craig Levein, but when Levein moved to City he brought De Vries with him. He joined in January 2005 but, after having a good goals-to-games ratio north of the border, struggled to find the back of the net in his first season at the Walkers. He made 20 appearances but scored just the one goal.

With a full pre-season at the club behind him the Dutchman fared better at the start of the 2005-06 season, scoring nine goals in the first half of the campaign in all competitions. He was even named as captain for one match. But City's struggles meant that Levein got the sack and de Vries, as he had done coming into the club, following Levein out when he signed for Heerenveen on loan. He went back to Holland on-loan the following season on a season-long deal with Den Haag.

De Vries returned to Leicester after the season and was placed on the transfer list, although he was part of the first team squad for the start of the 2007-08 season. Leeds United took him on loan twice that season before he was released from his contract in January 2008 and joined Dundee United on the same day, joining, surprise surprise, Craig Levein.