Topics: Pep Guardiola, Bernardo Silva, Benjamin Mendy, Manchester City, English Premier League
Pep broke his silence on Silva's controversial tweet but many did not like what the Spaniard said.

After Bernardo Silva found himself in deep trouble over a tweet he made about Man City team-mate Benjamin Mendy, everyone eagerly waited to hear the response from the club and manager Pep Guardiola. While the Citizens are yet to issue a statement, the manager has spoken on the issue but his choice of words did not go down well.

The Portuguese star took to Twitter to post a joke at the expense of the French defender. In his tweet, Silva compared a picture of the fullback when he was young to the mascot of Spanish confectionery brand Conguitos. Anger soon erupted as the mascot is a controversial one, slammed for being stereotypical and racist.

The midfielder would go on to delete his Tweet but the damage was done, with anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out getting involved, calling for the FA to punish the former Monaco ace over his "discriminatory" joke.

Guardiola spoke about the actions of Silva, who started Tuesday's Carabao Cup victory over Preston, defending his star player. The Spanish tactician echoed Bernardo's reasoning, insisting that they are close friends who joke with each other all the time.

"Honestly, I don't know what will happen," the tactician said.

"They should put their focus on another issue because they don't know which guy they are talking about.

"Bernardo is one of the most lovely people I ever met in my life.

"He speaks four or five languages and that is the best way to understand how open-minded he is.

"And one of his best friends is Mendy. He's like a brother for him."

However, this statement from Guardiola did not sit well with many. Pep then went on to claim that the comparison was not about the color of Benjamin's skin but then made a mess by saying there are similarities between the picture of Mendy and the picture of the Conguitos mascot Bernardo used. 

"The image is not about the color of the skin," he added.

"He took a picture of Benjamin when he was young and he related it to this cartoon, which was quite similar for the image.

"If they want to do that and ask for Bernardo, I think he will be open to talk. But first, you have to know exactly which person you are talking about.

"There are many situations with people, with white people and you look at a cartoon and the face is quite similar to your face and you put it in there, it is quite similar.

"I think the response from Mendy was clear after that. They are joking all the time.

"Maybe what I say as advice is to hide social media…but if something happened it would be a mistake."

The FA have stepped in and are currently looking at Silva's tweet. Should he be found guilty of racism, the Portuguese ace could be facing a ban and a six-game ban.