Zayn Malik planning to pursue a rap career with the help of 50 Cent'

All eyes are on Zayn Malik as fans wait to see what musical direction he will take as a solo artist.

And the former One Direction star might be opting for a surprising switch in gear as reports have emerged claiming that the star could be eyeing up a rap career.

According to the Sunday Mirror, Zayn is allegedly planning to leave his deal with Simon Cowell’s label, Syco, in order to sign a new deal with American hip-hop artist, 50 Cent.

The 39-year-old rapper reportedly keen to tempt the former 1D star away from his long-time mentor Simon with the promise that they could make millions together.

He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: ‘I want it to happen. I can make him a lot of money and he can make me a lot of money.

‘The point I am making is he needs to be working with the right producers, artists, and people in the genre. Some of the pop star rappers are a little cringe, and he doesn't want that.’

Zayn had insisted that he wanted to live like a ‘normal 22-year-old’ when he quit the band three months ago, amid rumours he'd cheated on his Little Mix star fiancee Perrie Edwards earlier this year.

But Zayn is believed to have already begun working on solo material with close pal and producer Naughty Boy.

However, after a number of public spats between the La La La hitmaker and his former bandmate Louis Tomlinson, Zayn could be tempted to travel to the US to work with 50.

The In Da Club rapper- whose real name is Curtis Jackson - has an estimated net worth of £101 million thanks to his numerous business ventures.

A new track featuring vocals from Zayn was released online last week after the 22-year-old singer teamed up with rapper MIC Righteous for a cover of Rae Sremmurd's 'No Type'.

Within hours of the audio being made public, the song was embroiled in controversy when Zayn's friend and collaborator Naughty Boy claimed the track was unfinished and had been stolen.

He tweeted: ‘Just wait for the real one... you won't be disappointed. That had nothing to do with me or Zayn, something was stolen from the hard drive that had nothing to do with the rapper involved.’

However, Righteous hit back and insisted he hadn't ‘stolen’ the track.

He replied: ‘Why r u like this.. 'The real one' ur just gona take my verse off and put krept and konans back on. Tell the truth shah. We recorded them bars in ur studio months ago. .. Bout “stolen hard drive”.

‘LOL NB just denied me like peter denied jesus, an to think we been mates for yrs. guess thats what not being in control of ur own music does.’

The song was taken down but Righteous later reuploaded it, insisting he doesn't have to ‘keep the label happy’ and was making the song public for Zayn's sake as he isn't allowed to release music for two years.

Shortly after Zayn quit One Direction, Naughty Boy released a solo demo from the singer called 'I Won't Mind', but it was taken down soon afterwards following a backlash.