Liam Payne is reportedly planning to launch his solo career in September so he can spend time with partner Cheryl and their baby before heading to the US.
The 23-year-old singer signed a record deal with Capitol in the UK and Republic in the US and will be spending a lot of time in the US over the coming months in order to promote his material, much to the unhappiness of his pregnant girlfriend Cheryl.
A source said: "Cheryl and Liam have talked a lot about his solo career and it's caused some tension.
"While of course she wants him to succeed, and Liam is committed to being there for Cheryl and the baby, his record company are keen to move ahead with a September release for his new music and want him in the US to start doing promo work months in advance.
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"Liam has reassured Cheryl that the baby is his priority but even he's not sure what's going on with his schedule."
Record label bosses are keen for Liam to get his music out as soon as possible after seeing how well his former One Direction bandmate Zayn Malik has done in the US.
The source told heat magazine: "The record company are eager for him to get his music out there after seeing how well Zayn is doing in America.
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"His record company are hoping to put him on big US chat shows to perform. They need him to spend some time in LA to show he's committed."
However, the 'Little Things' singer has reached a compromise with his 33-year-old girlfriend and agreed to stay in the UK for the months after their baby's birth.
The source said: "Liam is excited about his new family and wants to keep Cheryl happy, so is willing to compromise.
"She's putting her foot down about him making plans so soon after the birth and counting on him being there every step of the way.
"Anything less than that and Cheryl is not going to be happy about it."