Manchester City footballer Jack Grealish has paid tribute to Liam Payne after the former One Direction star passed away at the age of 31 on Wednesday evening.

Payne tragically fell from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after reportedly arriving in the country earlier this month to attend a concert by his former bandmate, Niall Horan.

Several witnesses reported that Payne had fallen from his room at the Casa Sur Palmero Hotel shortly after 5 pm (ART) on Wednesday.

Grealish took to Instagram to share a picture of the singer, along with a heartfelt message of condolences following the devastating news.

“Awhhh no, this is so sad, man!!” Grealish wrote. “So, so sad!! RIP Liam Payne. We have to start being nicer to each other in this world, man.”

Payne had previously been compared to Grealish during the 2023 Soccer Aid event after sporting a hairstyle similar to the Manchester City forward.

The singer had a keen interest in football and twice participated in Soccer Aid, an event that raises funds for UNICEF, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund.

He captained England in his debut appearance in 2022, before returning to the event a year later.

Payne rose to fame as a member of the hugely successful boy band One Direction, alongside his former bandmates Harry Styles, 30, Niall Horan, 31, Zayn Malik, 31, and Louis Tomlinson, 32.

Throughout his career, Payne struggled with mental health issues, including alcoholism and suicidal thoughts.

In 2021, during an appearance on the Diary Of A CEO podcast, he spoke openly about his battles with depression and substance abuse during his time in One Direction.

“I was worried about how far my rock bottom was going to be. Where is rock bottom for me? And you would never have seen it. I’m very good at hiding it. No one would ever have seen it.”

When podcast host Steven Bartlett asked whether these dark thoughts involved “suicidal ideation”, Payne replied, “Yes.”

“There’s some stuff I’ve definitely never spoken about. It was really, really severe. It was a problem. And it wasn’t until I saw myself after that I realised, ‘Right, I need to fix myself.’”

Payne also recalled seeing photos of himself looking “bloated,” which he referred to as his “pills-and-booze face.”

“My face was just, like, 10 times bigger than it is now. I just didn’t like myself very much, and then I made a change.”

Local police have now launched an investigation into the singer’s sudden death, with tributes pouring in following the tragedy.

A statement from local authorities revealed that they arrived at the hotel after receiving reports of an “aggressive man who may have been under the influence of drugs and alcohol.”

Officers heard a loud noise coming from the courtyard before discovering Payne’s body shortly after 5 pm, according to the BBC.

Reports from TMZ suggest that Payne had been behaving erratically in the hotel lobby, where he allegedly smashed his laptop before being escorted back to his room.

Police confirmed they had received a call from a hotel employee requesting urgent assistance with an intoxicated guest, as recorded in audio obtained from the Buenos Aires security ministry.

“When he is conscious, he’s destroying the entire room, and we need you to send someone,” the worker reportedly said.

Alberto Crescenti, the director of emergency medical services, confirmed that Payne had sustained “very serious injuries after falling from the third floor into an internal courtyard.”

“We verified his identity using the passport he had,” Crescenti said. “Afterwards, we discovered that he was a famous singer.”

“Unfortunately, the injuries he sustained from the fall were fatal, and there was no possibility of resuscitating him.”