Bernardo Silva wrote a personal letter to the FA expressing regret over his ill-judged tweet likening close friend Benjamin Mendy to a black cartoon character.
The forward walked into a firestorm after juxtaposing a picture on twitter of Mendy as a child alongside the logo from Conguitos – a Spanish chocolate product carrying obvious racist connotations.
Underneath he had written “Guess who?” – a ‘joke’ between friends he insisted was not meant to cause offence.
But after the FA wrote to City to request an explanation for the incident – one which could still carry a potential six-match ban for discrimination – the Portuguese apologised in a confidential letter for his post and any unintentional offence caused.
Mendy is understood to have added his weight to Bernardo’s case with an additional submission acting effectively as a character reference stressing the close nature of their friendship.
City are hoping the letter helps draw a line under an incident with manager Pep Guardiola admitting that a lesson has been learned by his players.
“If someone is offended I can understand it,” he said. “Bernardo is maybe going to take a lesson and it won’t happen again.
“I know the intention of Bernardo. It was jut a joke. Benjamin is like a brother to Bernardo. It is the same the other way. It is what I see every day in training.”
City travel to Everton in the Premier League’s late kick off on Saturday.
And Guardiola says his side know the challenge of the task in hand at Goodison Park.
He added: “They’re an incredible team, top manager. It’s one of the toughest games you can play during the season, we know it.
“We’ve prepared, the players know how difficult it is.”
