MUMBAI: Former One Direction star Zayn Malik is reportedly keen on starting a solo music career so that he can "prove himself".

The 22-year-old singer, who quit One Direction earlier this year, is keen on forging out a career as a solo singer and is said to have no plans to return to the chart-topping boy band.

"Zayn wants to go solo, so he can try and fly under the radar and not have the pressures of being in the world's biggest pop group. Zayn won't return to One Direction, and certainly not before he can prove to himself and the doubters that he can forge a successful career on his own," hollywoodlife.com quoted a source as saying.

On Sunday, rumours began circulating that the star was returning to the boy band when his Twitter biography was allegedly restored to link to the band's official website.

The apparent change sparked rumours among the ‘Midnight Memories’ hitmakers’ huge following, with "#zayniscomingback" soon trending on Twitter worldwide.