Wataru Endo has been named the Standard Chartered Men’s Player of the Month for December by Liverpool.

The midfielder wins the award for the first time after coming first in a fan poll on Liverpoolfc.com, ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah in second and third place, respectively.

Endo, who joined the club in August from VfB Stuttgart, was an outstanding player in all eight of the Reds’ games during the period.

“I’m so glad to be chosen as the Player of the Month,” the No.3 stated as he accepted the trophy at the AXA Training Centre today. I hope this is the first of many!

“December is a big month for me because we had so many injured players, and I knew I needed to show why I’m here.”

“It’s a very tough month but the way we played and how we showed on the pitch was great, in my opinion.”

Endo started the month with a key cameo off the bench in Liverpool’s 4-3 triumph over Fulham, scoring a stunning curler in front of the Kop to tie the game.

He subsequently started the next seven games as Jürgen Klopp’s team defeated Sheffield United, Crystal Palace, West Ham United, and Burnley.

“My first [Premier League] goal against Fulham was [a] great [moment], and the atmosphere at Anfield was amazing,” said the 30-year-old, who is now poised to join Japan for the AFC Asian Cup. That was a memorable occasion for me.

“It was a difficult situation for us because we were trailing 3-2 and needed to score.” I came in and performed for this audience. It was also unexpected for me to win! But I was overjoyed.

“I needed time to adjust, so the most important thing, in my opinion, was to keep playing.”

“In December, I just kept playing the games because we had a lot of injured players.” So I was fortunate, but I just needed to keep playing, I believe.”