Merseyside Police have confirmed that they are investigating racist abuse received by Liverpool forward Mario Balotelli on Twitter.

The 24-year-old was sent the abuse after he tweeted 'Man Utd...LOL' following Manchester United's 5-3 defeat against Leicester City on Sunday afternoon.

The post has been retweeted over 178,000 times, with some users posting abuse and racist comments.

Merseyside Police have posted a message on their Twitter feed saying: "We can confirm officers are looking into offensive comments made on Twitter about Mario Balotelli earlier today."

Balotelli joined Liverpool last month from AC Milan for a reported fee of £16m.