Rafa Benitez says he is fully aware of Santi Cazorla’s talents as Chelsea welcome Arsenal to Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon, because he tried to sign the midfielder for Liverpool five years before the Spaniard made the move to the Gunners.

Interim Chelsea manager Benitez was keen on Cazorla when he was in charge at Anfield, but was unable to persuade Villarreal to sell the playmaker, who eventually signed for Arsenal from Malaga last summer.

The 52-year-old believes the £12 million (€14m) signing has settled well at the Emirates Stadium, but warned that his side are more than ready for the visit of Arsene Wenger’s team as he enjoys “top games”.

“The chairman there [at Villarreal] wanted to keep the team and didn’t want to lose one of his best players,” Benitez told reporters. “It wasn’t possible to sign him because it was a big risk with the amount of money we had to spend.

“At the time he was a winger and not playing ­between the lines or as a ­second striker. We knew he could be a great player, but he was [going to cost] too much at the time and we could not afford him.

“To come to England and ­settle down is not just down to the quality of the player but sometimes it also depends on the environment and in the case of Cazorla, he is doing well at Arsenal.”

Benitez’s Chelsea side have struggled at home in the Premier League of late, only winning one of their last seven games to fall 13 points behind league leaders Manchester United.

But the manager says a derby against a side such as Arsenal is the perfect tonic after the recent 2-2 draw at home to Southampton.

“After a draw at home, we have a top side coming to us and that is good for us,” he added. “It gives us extra ­motivation and we will be ­focused. This is different from a normal game because the atmosphere is different.

“But if you are a top side you are pleased to play in this kind of game. The main thing as a manager is how to keep your players motivated in every game. With this game, it is easy. I like top games.”

Steven Gerrard believes Liverpool can compete with any team in the Premier League under new manager Brendan Rodgers, but has stressed that they need to acquire two or three new signings to help them find consistency.

That comes on the back of a handsome 5-0 drubbing of Norwich at Anfield on Saturday, when the Reds looked in fine form, with new £12 million signing Daniel Sturridge among the goals. That’s now three in three for the striker since his move from Chelsea, but Gerrard feels the team need something more if they are to challenge for titles.

“In general, I like the ­direction the club is going in, but the harsh reality is that we still need two or three big players who can help”, he told The Mirror.

“We were short before the last ­deadline and I think we struggled to find consistency ­because of that.”

Liverpool took time earlier in the season to adapt to their new manager’s ideas and style of play, but six wins in their last 10 outings have improved the outlook considerably, with Gerrard looking to learn from arch-rivals Manchester United.

“I like the new manager’s philosophy. I like his style of play. The gap between us and, say, Manchester United is now ­severe, but I ­believe that, on our day we can beat any team in the league,” he added.

“What we need to find is that ­consistency. We can actually learn from ­United. There are games when they don’t play well and they still find a way to win.

“When we don’t play well, we don’t win. We need to find a way to win games when we’re not really at our top level.”

With further signings possible, Liverpool take on Arsenal away next in the Premier League – after their FA Cup fourth round tie at Oldham.

Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge was delighted to mark his home debut for the club with a goal, as he ‘thanked God’, and his manager Brendan Rodgers, for giving him the opportunity to play at Anfield.

Sturridge joined the Reds from Chelsea for a estimated €15 million earlier this month, and became the first Liverpool player since Ray Kennedy in 1974 to score in each of his first three games for the club, as Rodgers’ side claimed an emphatic 5-0 victory over Norwich City.

And the England international revealed his joy at being given the chance to play at Anfield when speaking to Sky Sports News after the match.

“I enjoyed it very much,” said Sturridge. “I want to thank God for the opportunity and making me put on a Liverpool shirt, without him this wouldn’t be possible.

“I’d like to thank the manager for giving me the opportunity also.

“It’s great to be here and it’s a world-class club. I have world-class players with me like Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard, not to mention all the other players, but in terms of me being here at this club, it’s great.”

The former Chelsea also took time to praise his new strike partner, Suarez, after the match, as the pair once again linked up impressively, with both getting their names on the scoresheet in the dominant display.

Suarez took his tally for the season to 20 with his first half strike against Norwich, after a clever dummy from Sturridge, and the 23-year-old insisted the best is still to come from the pair.

“It’s good to play with him [Suarez], we’ve been training well together and I think it’s only gonna be a matter of time before we gel properly,” Sturridge said.

“At the moment it’s going well but it’s gonna get a lot better than this because we’ve only played with each other for a couple of weeks so we don’t really know how each other play but it seems to be clicking.

Sturridge continued: “We work a lot on that [the dummy] in training and we’ve been doing it for the last six or seven training sessions since I signed, so we click.

“We get on very well off the field and on the field it’s showing in our play also.”