Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez admits new Napoli signing Andrea Dossena struggled to settle at Anfield.

Benitez explained his reasons for selling Dossena.

He said: "Dossena wanted to play again in Italy. The move is good for him and good for us, and hopefully he will now go to the World Cup.

"When he arrived here we were trying to sign offensive players, particularly full-backs. Similarly we signed Philipp Degen.

"It is difficult to sign wingers, the best can cost £20-25million. But it is cheaper to sign attacking full-backs, and that was the idea to improve our attacking style.

"We wanted full-backs going forward. Dossena had some good games, but he could not perform regularly at the level we needed. This is now the best for him and the best for us.

"We needed to do something with regard to Dossena and Voronin. We were not using them much and we had some offers for them.

"They both wanted to play every week, we had little option but to let them go."