Pep Guardiola reacts to Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson winning writers' award ahead of Kevin De Bruyne

Writers' gong: Henderson won the award ahead of runner-up De Bruyne
Liverpool FC via Getty Images

Pep Guardiola has reacted to Jordan Henderson beating Kevin De Bruyne to the Footballer of the Year award – offering his congratulations to the Liverpool captain.

De Bruyne was runner-up in the vote by the Football Writers’ Association, with many believing he was the outstanding performer this year, despite Manchester City’s failure to hold onto their Premier League title.

Guardiola hailed the Belgium international’s form, saying: “I think he speaks for himself what he gives to our team and the Premier League. It is not necessary to say how important he is or what a fantastic player he is.

“But at the same time, congratulations to the captain of Liverpool. He’s a really good player.”

De Bruyne has scored 11 Premier League goals and provided 19 assists to underline his importance to City this season.

Guardiola added: “He enjoys making assists. I’d love for him to score millions of goals, but he enjoys making assists.

“But since the return he’s taken penalties and freekicks and taken responsibility to score goals which is the most difficult thing.

“Not just this season, the numbers, not just this season, the way he’s played incredible, in the 100 point season, I’ll never forget how he played in this incredible milestone.”

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