Rafa Benitez insists Everton have great potential - if they're able to buy in the transfer market.

Benitez was sacked in January after replacing Carlo Ancelotti last summer.

After an outlay of over £500m on new signings since Farhad Moshiri took over the club in 2016, Benitez arrived last summer to discover he had no money to spend.

Asked in an interview with The Athletic whether he was aware of this, he said: "No. No, no, no, no, no. At the beginning, it was a massive project with the potential to spend some money.

"It changed when we couldn't sell players. It's difficult when people are on big contracts and nobody wants to buy them, so we didn't have that option.

"We signed five players for less than £2m and we worked with what we had."

Benitez, who led Liverpool to Champions League success in 2005, was targeted by Everton fans angry the club had appointed someone with Anfield connections. A banner reading "we know where you live" was found near his home.

"In personal terms, Everton was quite difficult for me. But as a professional, I was fully concentrated and always trying to do my best. That's the main thing," he said.

"I knew it was impossible to change the situation, so you have to deal with it."

Asked if he was taken aback by the hostility of the fans, Benitez added: "At the end, yes. I was really pleased with the support at the beginning, but yes, I was surprised because we were giving everything.

"But I cannot control the emotions of other people. The only thing I can do is give the message that we were doing our best, we were unlucky with injuries, we didn't have much support in the transfer window in terms of money — you can see the numbers — and that all the teams around us were all spending more money.

"It was very difficult to improve without that help."

Despite the acrimonious end to his time at Goodison Park, Benitez says he "genuinely hopes" Frank Lampard can steer Everton to safety. They are 17th and just one point ahead of Burnley ahead of Sunday's Merseyside derby at Anfield.

Benitez added: "They signed five new players in January and all the key injured players were back and although people like to compare, in reality, it was like a new Everton team. Everyone has to take their own responsibility."