The Athletic's James McNicholas joined the Handbrake Off podcast and talked about Arsenal's Eddie Nketiah and his brilliant display against Portsmouth in the FA Cup. 

Indeed, the Gunners secured an impressive 2-0 victory over Pompey away from home and booked their ticket to the quarter-finals of the competition with a fairly young squad in tow. Mikel Arteta's youngsters, who were backed by a couple of seasoned veterans, did their job brilliantly and Nketiah was definitely one of the stand-out performers according to McNicholas.

Here's what he said about the player on the Handbrake Off podcast (4/3/2020): "Eddie's quick, and he's quite strong in his upper body. There's a lot of work for him to do. You can't really get away with playing for a team at the top end of the Premier League by just being a finisher. But Eddie is doing what Mikel Arteta is asking at the moment. There's a long way to go but I think the fact that he's scoring goals is a fantastic start."

Of course, it's difficult to expect such a young player to be a complete package at just 20 years of age - especially in terms of filling out his upper body - but Nketiah is already showing some promising signs. After all, he was one of the goalscorers on the night and that was his eighth strike across all competitions in 2019/20, which is a decent return for such a young player.

Clearly, at his age and lack of experience, he's not likely to be the full package but McNicholas is right to be excited about him, having looked impressive during the embryonic stages of the Mikel Arteta reign.

Arsenal fans, what did you think about Nketiah's performance in the FA Cup? Do you agree with McNicholas' verdict? Let us know in the comments down below!