Robbie Williams has reached out to Zayn Malik

The 'Candy' hitmaker - who is even rumoured to have offered his LA and London properties to the 22-year-old singer - believes Zayn will benefit from his help after he received valuable support from Elton John following his own highly publicised exit from the 90s boyband.

A source told The Sun newspaper: "Robbie feels a connection with the lads as he's walked in their shoes and feels Zayn's departure mirrors his own from Take That.

"Zayn was only a year older than Robbie was when they joined their bands. They both did five years then felt they just had to leave.

"He sees himself as one of the few people who can truly understand what Zayn's going through.

"He cares enough to offer advice, just like Elton did with him."

It also seems the 'Kiss You' hitmaker is set to follow in Robbie's footsteps and embark on a solo career after quitting the five-piece band.

While he originally claimed he had decided to leave the group in an attempt to lead a "normal" life, Zayn was recently spotted heading into the studio to work with producer Naughty Boy and is said to be working on music with a "sexual" vibe.

A source said: "The music he's making is completely different to anything One Direction have ever done before, it's very slowed down R&B and quite sexual. It's going to blow fans' minds."