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Anti racism group Kick It Out have called on the FA to act on Bernardo Silva’s “offensive” tweet.

Football Association chiefs have now written to Manchester City to ask for their observations and will then decide whether to take further action.

It follows City’s Portugal star Bernardo posting an image appearing to compare team mate Benjamin Mendy to a mascot for a Spanish chocolate peanut brand.

Bernardo stressed the tweet was a joke and it is understood that he is close friends from Mendy from their days together at Monaco and no offence was taken. The tweet was deleted soon afterwards.

(Image: Getty Images)

But it did prompt a fierce backlash on social media and Kick It Out then intervened with a strongly worded statement urging the FA to get involved.

A Kick It Out statement said: “Racist stereotypes are never acceptable as 'banter', and we're shocked that someone who is a role model to millions has failed to understand the discriminatory nature of his post.

"The FA have been notified and we believe that retrospective action should be taken, including mandatory education - which is vital to challenge offensive behaviour such as this."

It now remains to be seen whether the FA will take stronger action but have now been in touch with City over the tweet.

(Image: PA)

The FA, Premier League and EFL met with Twitter bosses last week to discuss problems and abuse on social media.

Racism has been an issue since the start of the season, with the likes of Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford and Tammy Abraham just a number of high-profile players who have been targeted by online trolls.

The backlash to his post has somewhat overshadowed Bernardo's impressive weekend performance, when he scored a hat-trick in City's 8-0 thumping of Watford .