Luke Williams Comments on Connor Roberts’ Potential Swansea Return

Swansea City head coach Luke Williams has lauded Connor Roberts as an “incredible player” following the Wales international’s expression of interest in returning to the club. Roberts initially joined Swansea at the age of nine and made his senior team debut during the 2017-18 season. Roberts, a right-back, departed his childhood club Swansea to join Burnley in 2021. However, the 29-year-old, whose current contract with Burnley is set to conclude at the end of the ongoing season, stated in a recent interview with BBC Sport Wales that he aspires to return to Swansea before concluding his professional playing career. Swansea head coach Williams commented, “He’d walk into almost any Championship team, let’s be honest.” He further added, “He’s an incredible player and great character so let’s see what happens in the future, I don’t know. But I liked the interview.” Williams had recently taken on the role of assistant to then-Swansea manager Russell Martin at the time of Roberts’ transfer to Burnley. Despite their brief interaction, Roberts reached out to Williams upon the latter’s return to Swansea last January. “I love this guy,” Williams stated. “When I was assistant here I saw him in the canteen for a week. He didn’t train because he had a small injury and he was on the brink of moving on.” He continued, “That stuck with me because I was quite sad I didn’t get to work with him on the grass.” Williams also recounted, “I think I had 200 messages when I came back [as head coach] and the very first one? Mr Roberts. A properly genuine, nice, supportive message because he does love it here. It’s his club.” Hailing from Crynant, Roberts accumulated 152 senior appearances for Swansea, having advanced through the club’s youth academy system. His last game for Swansea was the 2021 Championship play-off final defeat against Brentford, after which he was transferred to Burnley in a reduced-price agreement due to having only one year remaining on his contract with Swansea. Roberts expressed his desire to create “good memories” at Swansea “when I do go back and play for them again,” acknowledging the uncertainty surrounding his future beyond the current season as his contract with Burnley approaches its expiration. Swansea City may potentially be seeking a right-sided defender in the upcoming summer transfer window. Currently, the contracts of seasoned players Kyle Naughton and Cyrus Christie are set to conclude at the end of the season, and it is anticipated that there could be transfer interest in Josh Key, Swansea’s present first-choice right-back. At present, Roberts’ attention remains on Burnley, for whom he has played 12 matches this season to date. Williams further commented, “He is a brilliant player in a really brilliant team, highly motivated for that team to go and get promoted I am sure.” He continued, “I don’t think he is talking about anything else other than that, but he makes no secret about how much he loves this club and we all understand that.” Williams concluded, “We are talking about something [which is] potential, in the future, and there is no disrespect towards Burnley whatsoever.”