Santa Cruz joined Blackburn from German giants Bayern Munich for £3.3million.
The 25-year-old said: “When I said I wanted to leave Bayern, I knew my next club may not be in the Champions League.
“But it’s a big thing for me to prove myself in a team not used to playing at that level.
“My aim is to make them better so maybe next year they can play in the Champions League. I can tell in training that I’ve joined a very good team.
“I don’t think Benni and I will have a problem playing together. I’ve met him and he speaks Spanish so that makes it easier.
“He’s an open guy and very funny so I think it will be fine on the pitch. But I need to get into the team and start scoring goals first.
“I’m very excited about playing here. You only have to look at the Champions League where three of the four semi-finalists were English.”
