Newcastle United hero David Ginola admits being blocked from joining Barcelona still burns.

Barcelona twice tried to snap him up — first before he moved to the north east and then again after his successful first season with Newcastle.

Sir Bobby Robson was in charge of the Spanish giants and he was keen to snap up the midfielder.

But Newcastle boss Keegan was not willing to let him go and Ginola admitted that it had left him feeling as though he had been betrayed by the manager.

“I was back in the south of France on holiday, sad because we lost the title, but not expecting anything else, when the phone rang and it was Sir Bobby, saying he wanted me, that they were going to make an offer,” Ginola said to The Athletic. “I was like, ‘No, no, no. Don’t put this in my mind again’.

“They started at £6million and went up to £12m, until Keegan called me and said it didn’t matter how much they bid, Newcastle wouldn’t let me go. I said to him, ‘You have to. This is my last chance to play for Barcelona — a club which will be winning trophies every year’.

Read Also:Gerrard reveals how he nearly became an Everton fan

“It was no disrespect to Newcastle, but a career is so short. When it didn’t happen again, I had to go back. And then when Keegan left us that January, he left me, too. I felt stabbed in the back.”