‘What a great character you are’ – Klopp salutes Liverpool captain Henderson after Footballer of the Year honour

Jordan Henderson was hailed for his “outstanding achievement” by Jurgen Klopp after picking up the Footballer of the Year award from the Football Writers’ Association.

Liverpool‘s captain lifted the Premier League trophy on Wednesday and now has an individual honour to go alongside this season’s team success.

England international Henderson, who has been out injured in recent weeks and will miss Sunday’s season finale at Newcastle United, was urged by Klopp to “enjoy the moment”.

The 30-year-old midfielder, who joined Liverpool from Sunderland in 2011, also led the team to Champions League glory last year.

Jurgen Klopp congratulates @Jhenderson on being voted Footballer of the Year, after a historic season for @LFC : “A perfect example that a mix of talent and attitude makes the difference. Well deserved, outstanding achievement, still a lot to come. Wow!” #FOTY20 #Henderson #Klopp pic.twitter.com/0y1z89EHX9

— The FWA (@theofficialfwa) July 24, 2020

In a video message to Henderson, Klopp said: “Hi my friend. One of the big questions in football is: what makes a proper player? What’s more important? Is it talent or is it attitude?

“I think the easy answer is: without talent, you’re nothing; without attitude, you will stay a talent forever. You are the perfect example that a mix makes the difference.

“So who would have thought that the young fella coming from Sunderland to Liverpool with big dreams would be one day the best player of the Premier League?

“Maybe you dreamt it. I’m not sure you thought it will happen but I know you are confident enough to have big dreams, but now is the moment where everybody saw it. Everybody saw what a great player you are, everybody saw what a great personality you are, what a great character you are.

“I know the human being behind the player and you would have deserved an award for that as well. So, many congratulations, well deserved, outstanding achievement.

“What a year you had, what a career so far you had, and the best news, there’s still a lot to come.

“I wish you a wonderful day, enjoy the moment because you can enjoy it, you don’t have to play at the weekend at Newcastle. Enjoy the moment and, again, best player of the Premier League, wow!”

Henderson saw off competition from Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford, among others, to win the award.

The FWA Footballer of the Year – the oldest individual award in English football, given out every year since 1948 – is given to the player considered both to have had an outstanding impact on their club’s performance in the season, as well as having performed well individually throughout the campaign.