Kevin De Bruyne credited Pep Guardiola after becoming the first Manchester City man to be named the Professional Footballers’ Association’s player of the year.

The Belgium playmaker’s award breaks a two-year run of Liverpool winners, with Virgil Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah having claimed the prize over the previous two seasons.

City trailed the Reds by an eventual 18 points in the 2019/20 Premier League term but De Bruyne, who registered 13 goals and a record-equalling 20 assists, was voted the campaign’s top performer by his peers and he was quick to thank his manager for handing him full creative licence.

Manchester City’s Lauren Hemp collected the women’s young player prize, beating team-mates Chloe Kelly, Georgia Stanway and Ellie Roebuck, with Chelsea’s Erin Cuthbert and Manchester United’s Lauren James also shortlisted.

City on Tuesday completed the re-signing of England defender Lucy Bronze from Lyon, and Hemp believes City is the place to be.

She said:: “At the moment I think it’s the time to be at City, and I think people from the outside are looking and saying, ‘Wow they are going to do well this season’.”