Lawrence Vigouroux Anticipates Unrecognized Return to Burnley

Lawrence Vigouroux, who qualifies to represent Chile internationally through his father despite being born in London, believes he will not face jeers from the home supporters during his upcoming return to Burnley this weekend, as he anticipates the crowd will be unfamiliar with him. Despite a season spent as a peripheral player with the Clarets, Vigouroux has rapidly established a reputation for himself at Swansea City. Indeed, Vigouroux’s impact has been so significant that manager Luke Williams has expressed confidence in his goalkeeper’s potential to compete in the Premier League. While playing in the top flight remains a long-term aspiration, Vigouroux’s immediate objective is to maintain his excellent performance when Swansea faces Burnley on Sunday. This match marks a prompt return to Turf Moor for Vigouroux, who did not feature in any senior games during his year in the Premier League with Burnley – a period when the team was under the management of Vincent Kompany – before his transfer to Swansea for an undisclosed sum in July. The 30-year-old stated, “I think it was a good learning curve for me, learning under a manager who has ended up going to Bayern Munich, and all his staff.” He continued, “For me it was really good to get my eye in at that sort of level. I enjoyed my time there with the players and the day-to-day stuff in the changing room.” “Of course it was a bit frustrating not playing and that’s why I decided to go at the end of the season. I am really happy with the decision I made.” Swansea’s journey north presents Vigouroux with an opportunity, at last, to demonstrate his abilities to the supporters of Burnley. “I don’t think I’ll get any boos because unless they were watching the warm-ups, they won’t know who I am,” he further commented, smiling. Kompany brought Vigouroux to Burnley following the former Liverpool youth player’s impressive performances at Leyton Orient, where he played more than 150 matches and, significantly, became known as a goalkeeper exceptionally confident with the ball at his feet. However, with the £19 million acquisition James Trafford and Arijanet Muric ranked above him, Vigouroux did not make an appearance for Burnley. Lawrence Vigouroux commenced his professional journey within Tottenham Hotspur’s academy. Nevertheless, his influence at Swansea has ensured that the Welsh club has not felt the absence of Carl Rushworth, who was their player of the year last season while on loan from Brighton. Swansea manager Williams stated that Vigouroux, who plays for Chile at the international level but has yet to earn a senior cap, has performed “as good as anybody else wearing the goalkeeper shirt in the Championship” during the 2024-25 season. Williams remarked, “The way he’s kept the ball out of the net and the way he’s helped the team to build up, he has been exceptional.” He added, “If you look at his career, whatever level he has been at, once he has established himself, he has become a key player for that team and player of the year several times.” “So I’m really optimistic that he’s going to improve, which is exciting because he’s playing so well already.” Vigouroux had not previously competed at Championship level, having spent the majority of his senior career with Orient and Swindon Town. Nevertheless, Williams has observed sufficient evidence from Vigouroux to be “certain he can go to the top”. After frequently exhibiting defensive vulnerabilities since the conclusion of Steve Cooper’s tenure in 2021, Swansea has demonstrated newfound resilience this season. To date, they have allowed only nine goals in 14 league matches, marking one of the division’s strongest defensive records. Vigouroux commented, “It’s everyone working together as a collective to have such a good defensive record.” He recorded his fifth league clean sheet of the season as Swansea defeated Watford in midweek, bringing them within close proximity of the play-off positions. Scoring goals has presented a significant challenge for Williams’ team this season, with their defensive achievements being crucial to their positive accumulation of points. The victory against Watford marked their second consecutive win, following last weekend’s 2-1 success at Oxford United, a result Vigouroux found particularly gratifying given his ties to Swindon. He recounted, “I got sent off against Oxford twice [playing for Swindon] so they give me a bit of stick every time I go there.” “The first red was for two yellows. I got one – I am not going to repeat what I said to the linesman – and then there was a tackle on me. I was a bit angry and I got up and pushed the guy and I got another yellow.” He continued, “Then the second red was [for being the] last man. It wasn’t even me. Everyone was saying it wasn’t me but he sent me off. We appealed it and it got overturned, but people don’t remember that. They just remember the two red cards.” Vigouroux admitted that simply completing the entire match at the Kassam Stadium with Swansea was, therefore, more satisfying than usual. “I was thinking to myself, if they go through one on one, I can’t go running out because I can’t get sent off again,” he remarked with another smile. After becoming the first away team to secure a victory at Oxford this season, Swansea’s subsequent objective is to attempt to conclude Burnley’s undefeated home streak. Vigouroux commented, “They have got really good individuals and a lot of quality.” “But if we can go and play the way we have in the last two games, you never know what happens.”