I was supposed to join Barcelona - but ended up at Newcastle United instead

The dazzling Frenchman arrived on Tyneside in 1995 from Paris Saint-Germain and quickly endeared himself to the Geordie supporters, becoming one of the club’s most iconic players during the Kevin Keegan ‘Entertainers’ era.

It’s seems hard to think of a world where Ginola didn’t play for Newcastle, however that was almost the reality.

“I had a great time in Paris – we won the league, two French Cups, and I played in three semi-finals – it was a really good time,” the former winger told Not Just Football.

“At that time, I should have signed for Barcelona, and I met Johan Cruyff during the summer, and he said that I was his priority at Barcelona. He had six foreigners at the club at the time and needed to get rid of [Gheorghe] Popescu, [Gheorghe] Hagi, and [Hristo] Stoichkov to put my name on the list for the chairman.

“I wanted for that, and we arrived at the 14th of July, Independence Day in France, and he called me and said that he couldn’t find any club to pay their wages, so it had to be for another time.

“I was in Amsterdam and received a call from Terry McDermott and he asked whether I wanted to sign for them, and I said, ‘Okay.’ An hour later, I get a phone call from David Dein who asked whether I’d signed for Newcastle because they wanted to offer me a contract. I said that I didn’t sign anything, but I gave my word to Terry and Kevin Keegan, so it was done. Things happened very quickly.”

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The 57-year-old admitted to having a culture shock when he first rocked up in the North East. Ginola remained at Newcastle for two seasons, marking his 76 appearances with seven goals and 16 assists before moving to Tottenham Hotspur.

“When I arrived at Newcastle and saw the training ground, it was like standing in an amateur club,” Ginola said. “It was a very low profile, having breakfast in the morning and sharing a dressing room with students from the local university because the training ground was in Durham. So, you jump into a world today where when you look at the facilities, training grounds, and stadiums, everything is top.

“You need to adapt yourself to this new chapter of football, but the thing for me is the mentality, the mentality has changed so much all through those years – the passion and the love of the shirt and the meaning of it. When I arrived at Newcastle, the first thing I thought was, ‘Am I in England?’ The way that they were talking and all these things, for me it was like a discovery.

“When I signed from PSG to Newcastle I thought about the Premier League and England and thought it would be like this and that, but I discovered things like Baked Beans and Toast – things I’d never think about in Paris. I was used to eating croissants and pan au chocolates and a nice glass of wine.

“Talking about football these days, I don’t think we realise how good it was at that time. Less money but more passion and appreciation to play for someone who really wants you, like Sir John Hall – what a man. He was a Geordie, very successful businessman who bought the club because it was his passion. Nowadays, people buy clubs because they just want to be in football, I don’t know if they are enjoying themselves.”