The Football Association is looking into a tweet Bernardo Silva posted in reference to his team-mate Benjamin Mendy on Sunday.

The tweet sent by Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva. Photograph: Twitter

Silva captioned a photo on Twitter believed to be of Mendy as a child next to an offensive image on Sunday with the caption: “Guess who?” The image was of the logo for the Spanish confectionery company Conguitos. The tweet was later deleted.

The FA is aware of the post and, if the game’s governing body decides to investigate further, then Silva, who scored a hat-trick in City’s 8-0 victory over Watford on Saturday, could face a fine or a ban.

The Portugal international later tweeted: “Can’t even joke with a friend these days... You guys …”, for which he was heavily criticised on the social media platform.

Mendy and Silva are very good friends and have played with each other since 2016, first at Monaco and then, from 2017, at Manchester City. Mendy did not seem to be offended by the tweet, replying with three smileys, an emoji with clapping hands and the words “1-0 for you will see”.