Julian Assange has been granted an Ecuadorian passport just a day after threatening to kick him out of its London embassy, it has been claimed.

The Wikileaks founder posted a picture of himself wearing an Ecuador football shirt an hour ago, adding to the speculation he had been granted citizenship.

Yesterday, all the talk was that he may be expelled from the Ecuadorian embassy where he has spent the past five years avoiding arrest.

But insiders have said they believe the passport was issued to him last month and the Foreign Office turned down a request from the Ecuadorian government to grant Assange diplomatic status.

The Wikileaks founder Julian Assange posted a picture of himself wearing an Ecuador football shirt, adding to the speculation he had been granted citizenship

El Universo quoted reliable sources who confirmed the document, numbered 1729926483, was issued to a Julian Paul Assange on December 21.

His name appeared on Ecuadorian Internal Revenue Service, and his file read 'the citizen/taxpayer has no information registered in the database or recorded by third parties', according to the paper.

An FCO spokesman said: 'The Government of Ecuador recently requested diplomatic status for Mr Assange here in the UK.

'The UK did not grant that request, nor are we in talks with Ecuador on this matter.

'Ecuador knows that the way to resolve this issue is for Julian Assange to leave the embassy to face justice.'

Swedish prosecutors have dropped their investigation into allegations against Mr Assange, but he fears he will be extradited to the United States if he leaves the building and that there is a sealed indictment ordering his arrest.

Ecuador's foreign minister, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, said: 'No solution will be achieved without international cooperation and the cooperation of the United Kingdom, which has also shown interest in seeking a way out.'

A United Nations panel concluded in 2016 that Mr Assange was under arbitrary detention.

A statement by Mr Assange's legal team said: 'The UN ruling, issued almost two years ago, is crystal clear in its language. Mr Assange is unlawfully and arbitrarily detained by the UK authorities and must be released.

'The UK should not permit itself to be intimidated by the Trump administration's public threats to "take down" Mr Assange.'

Yesterday, Ecuador said it was looking to end the ‘untenable impasse’ with the WikiLeaks founder, pictured, who has criticised Ecuador’s allies including Spain.

Assange moved to the embassy in Central London in 2012 as he tried to avoid extradition to Sweden over charges of rape and sexual assault.

But last year, the Australian, 46, angered Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno by tweeting support for Catalan separatists.

Yesterday, Ecuador’s foreign minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa said Assange’s stay had become ‘untenable’ and she was seeking a mediator’s assistance.

The charges against Assange have been dropped by Swedish prosecutors due to the impossibility of serving him notice, but the Metropolitan Police, which spent millions of pounds maintaining watch over the embassy, said he still faced a charge of failing to surrender to a court.