The celebrities enjoyed breakfast at 24-hour diner Coppelia at 5am local time, shortly after the Diamonds hitmaker finished partying at nearby nightclub Griffin, but they avoided being photographed together by leaving separately, reported E!Online.

Rihanna, 37, previously struck up a friendship with the Real Madrid striker over Twitter during the World Cup last year (14), when she sent her condolences to Karim after France lost to Germany in the quarter finals, writing:

To which he had replied:

This is not the first time Rihanna has been linked to a sportsman. In 2010, she reportedly dated Los Angeles Dodgers baseball star Matt Kemp, following her split from Chris Brown.

-NDTV