German former Chelsea star Michael Ballack is thought to be dating a 21-year-old friend of his late son Emilio less than a year after the 18-year-old was killed in a quad bike tragedy in Portugal.
Ballack, 45, was spotted enjoying a visit to Art Basel, a fair for Modern and contemporary art, with his model girlfriend Sophia Schneiderhan, 21.
The pair, who got close after Ballack's son's fatal accident, appeared loved up and were seen kissing in public, German outlet Bild reported.
It is not the first time the couple have been seen out together after they were seen out in a trendy district of Berlin.
It comes less than a year after Ballack's son Emilio was killed when his quad bike tipped backwards and crushed him as he reversed and lost control following a family BBQ at Ballack's Portuguese holiday home.
Emilio was the middle of Ballack's three sons - born in 2002 to then-girlfriend Simone Lambe, who Ballack would marry in 2008 but divorce in 2012.
Friends of the duo told Bild they believed the relationship was good for Ballack and that the couple did not seem bothered by the 24-year age gap.
Neither Ballack nor Schneiderhan immediately responded to MailOnline's request for comment.
Police at the time said Ballack had been riding on an uneven piece of land when the bike rolled backwards and fell on top of him around 2am on August 5 at the family's Villas do Mar estate, near the town of Troia which is just south of the capital, Lisbon.
Firefighters had to pull him free of the wreck before medics tried to revive him, but their efforts proved in vain and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
'The accident happened at the family home. The quad rider wasn't on a public road and his was the only vehicle involved,' an officer told Portuguese media.
Portuguese daily Jornal de Noticias reported that Emilio was reversing out of the property on his quad when he had his fatal accident.
He is believed to have lost control of the vehicle during the manoeuvre out of the family villa and ended up on a public road with the quad on top of him after falling, the paper reported. His grandmother is said to have raised the alarm.
Sources said Emilio had enjoyed a family barbecue at the villa earlier in the evening. He was holidaying there with his father, two brothers and Michael's own parents.
The teenager's body has been taken to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in the city of Santiago de Cacem for a post-mortem. Ballack has yet to make any official comment.
