Rihanna and Karim Benzema dating rumours: Singer and Real Madrid star enjoy 4-hour dinner in Santa Monica

It looks like Rihanna's romance with Real Madrid footballer Karim Benzema has just stepped up a gear.

The Diamonds singer was recently spotted on another cosy date night with her rumoured love interest – and this time their dinner lasted a staggering four hours.

According to the Daily Mail, Rihanna and Benzema enjoyed a night at Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica, the pop star's favourite restaurant. They are said to have arrived separately for the low-key outing and hired a private room to ensure that they were not disturbed by other patrons.

Earlier in June, the power couple were spotted partying at Hooray Henry's nightclub in Hollywood, with the French sportsman reportedly capping off the night by buying bouquet of red roses for the 27-year-old songstress.

The pair were first linked to each other during the 2014 Fifa World Cup tournament when the B***h Better Have My Money hitmaker reached out to the football player through Twitter.

She sent tongues wagging when she tweeted: "@Benzema I feel your pain right now!' to which he replied: '@rihanna No pain no gain, thanks for the support!"

But despite the dating rumours heating up in recent weeks, an insider claimed that RiRi was simply helping Benzema launch his music career.

"Karim is a massive rap fan and has been here [in New York] soaking up the scene and visiting studios with friends," a source told the Daily Star. "He became friends with Rihanna at the World Cup and she promised to hook him up with producers and studio pals."

Rihanna has recently been romantically linked to basketball player LeBron James, former flame Chris Brown and actor Leonardo DiCaprio. But Benzema doesn't have to worry about getting hassle from her ex Drake. The striker recently shared a photo of himself hanging out with Young Money rapper to confirm that there was no hard feelings between the pair.