David Sullivan dodged £20m bullet after Newcastle player’s horror show vs West Ham

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West Ham United took Newcastle United apart in the Premier League on Monday night.

It was a tremendous performance from West Ham against Newcastle – one that has bought Julen Lopetegui much more time.

Lopetegui produced an absolute masterclass up at St James’ Park, and I absolutely loved how he was shouting at his players from the sidelines to remain calm throughout the entire game.

The Hammers are now looking ahead of us, rather than down below at the Premier League relegation zone.

It’s amazing how quickly the narrative can switch after a good win isn’t it.

Next up is Arsenal on Saturday, and the West Ham players will be well up for that one.

Going back to the Newcastle game though…the win was very sweet indeed, but something else that many seem to have missed made it even sweeter.

Sullivan dodged bullet after Newcastle man’s display vs West Ham

The Hammers dominated Newcastle all over the pitch on Monday, especially in the second-half.

We could have easily won the game by more goals in the end.

And there was one battle between two players that really opened my eyes.

Michail Antonio absolutely had his way with Toon defender Lloyd Kelly during our 2-0 win.

Back in January of 2022, West Ham were heavily linked with signing Kelly for around £20 million.

However, he remained with Bournemouth in the end, before joining Newcastle on a free transfer this summer just gone.

Kelly has gone on to make just eight appearances in all competitions for the Toon so far this season (Transfermarkt).

And watching him in action against Antonio on Monday made me very grateful indeed that we didn’t sign him.

Antonio absolutely bullied Kelly throughout the entire match, and the 34-year-old had the beating of him for pace as well.

I was one of those pushing for David Sullivan to sign Lloyd Kelly for the Hammers two years ago – I was a big fan of the 26-year-old at Bournemouth.

However, his performance for Newcastle against West Ham proved that we might have just had a very lucky £20 million escape by not signing him.