Carlos Bacca is relishing battling for a place in the Milan starting XI with Mario Balotelli, but thinks the on-loan Liverpool striker still has a lot of work to do.

Colombia international Bacca scored his first goal for the club during Milan's 2-1 victory over Empoli on Saturday following his 30 million euro ($33.5 million) switch from Sevilla and will be hoping to find his stride quickly.

But he already has plenty of competition for a starting place at San Siro, with Balotelli joining Bacca and Luiz Adriano as the third new attacking recruit when he returned on loan from Anfield on Thursday.

Bacca acknowledges that competition for places is healthy for Milan and that, ultimately, coach Sinisa Mihajlovic will decide the team, but he says Balotelli will need to earn his place in the starting XI.

"There's healthy competition in attack and the important thing is that it benefits Milan," he told Mediaset. "Mario has been here for a few days and has a lot of work to do, then Mihajlovic will decide whether to play with two or three strikers."

Saturday's defeat of Empoli saw Milan register its first points of the season after losing 2-0 at Fiorentina last time out and, although its quality ultimately shone through in the end, Bacca feels they must improve.

"We played this game with the right attitude, but we must improve the quality of our football," he added. "Empoli put in a great performance and really pressured us on the ball, but fortunately we were able to win."