Naughty Boy made an apparent jibe towards former friend Zayn Malik on Twitter.

The music producer -- whose budding friendship with the ex-One Direction star came to a crashing halt last month -- hit out at Zayn telling him to ''get a grip'' in a now deleted tweet.

The message came after reports surfaced that the former boy band heartthrob had sent flirty messages to British reality TV star Chloe Goodman.

Naughty Boy wrote: ''Stop making a fool of yo self cuz @zaynmalik lol #getagrip leave it to the music blud NB #wisdom (sic)''

The tweet quickly disappeared from the 'La La La' hitmaker's timeline but not before being seen by Zayn's fervent fan base.

Naughty Boy, real name Shahid Khan, posted another veiled message directed as his former pal when he tweeted lyrics from One Direction's new single 'Drag Me Down' -- their first track without Zayn.

He wrote: ''fire for a heart (sic)''

Zayn and Naughty Boy became close friends earlier this year and the producer even helped the ex-1D star create tracks for his upcoming solo album.

However, the friendship apparently turned sour with Zayn calling Naughty Boy a ''fat joke'' last month.

He said: ''@NaughtyBoyMusic you fat joke stop pretending we're friends no one knows you (sic)''