Manchester City ace Rúben Dias has been accused of sending late night messages a string of gorgeous influencers while still romantically involved with Maya Jama.
The Portuguese centre-back ended his 18-month relationship with Love Island presenter Maya in April, shortly before she filmed the second series of Celebrity Traitors on location in Scotland.
Dias, currently celebrating a domestic double with City after winning the League and FA Cup in manager Pep Guardiola’s final season, has since been accused of ‘toe-dipping’ on social media before breaking off the romance.
The trend – a more subtle alternative to direct messaging – typically involves one social media user following another in the hope of gauging interest. If there is no reciprocation, they promptly unfollow and move on.
It’s understood that Dias used the technique in March – weeks before his relationship with Maya came to an end – after encountering attractive model and bridal designer Catarina Duraes online.
However, he unfollowed her little more than 24-hours later, when she failed to follow him back.
Manchester City ace Rúben Dias has been accused of following a string of gorgeous influencers while still romantically involved with Maya Jama
Months earlier, he employed the same tactic with Scottish brunette Claire in November 2025, although there is no suggestion the footballer was unfaithful while involved with Maya.
A source told The Sun: ‘It might just seem like a simple follow online but it’s the intention behind it, following someone to see if they follow back and interact, and always doing it late at night – it’s seedy.
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‘It suggests he’s sat browsing Instagram and what happens if they do follow back or DM?’
Since his split, Dias has reportedly briefly followed Aussie Love Island star Amelia Marni, who lives in London and has a boyfriend.
A gorgeous blonde TikTok influencer named Georgia received the same treatment, but there is no suggestion Ruben has met these women or interacted with them further.
According to The Sun, social media users have been tracking the footballer’s toe-dipping, and claimed he tends to follow women, before unfollowing them the following day.
The Daily Mail has contacted Ruben’s representatives for comment.
Following reports of their split, Maya and Dias deleted any snaps of each other from their respective Instagram accounts.
Over the weekend, Maya was also silent on social media when Ruben lifted the FA Cup with his City teammates, despite previously supporting him at matches.
Fans were quick to note the timing of the split, as Manchester City missed out on another Premier League title triumph to rivals Arsenal.
In November 2025, months before his relationship with Maya ended, Dias reportedly messaged Scottish brunette Claire (pictured)
Since his split, Dias has reportedly briefly followed Aussie Love Island star Amelia Marni (pictured) who lives in London and has a boyfriend
Toe Dipping sees a social media user following another in a bid to gauge a response, if there isn’t one, they press the unfollow button and move on
As well as a gorgeous blonde TikTok influencer named Georgia. There is no suggestion Dias has met these women or interacted with them further
The former couple started dating in December 2024 after meeting at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Manchester a month before.
It’s thought that the recent split has been ‘amicable,’ and there is still ‘a lot of love and respect between them’.
An insider said: ‘Maya is heading into an intense filming schedule and Ruben’s focus is fully on the World Cup, so they’ve decided to part ways.’
They went on to tell The Sun: ‘There’s no bad blood at all between them. They’re still incredibly fond of one another, but with months apart ahead and huge work commitments coming up, they both felt it was the right time to step back from the relationship.
‘Friends around them could see how much they cared about each other. But with Maya’s work schedule and Ruben’s football commitments ramping up, the relationship naturally reached a crossroads.
‘The split has been very mature and mutual. They’re both young, ambitious and entering huge phases in their respective careers.’
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