David Ginola reveals plan to make Newcastle United's academy just like Barcelona

Speaking to FourFourTwo, the Magpies favourite is eyeing a director role at a European side – with nowhere more fitting than his former club, where he spent two iconic years between 1995 and 1997.

The 53-year-old believes he understands what is needed to make Newcastle successful again, insisting they have great potential and that Geordies “deserve one of the biggest clubs in the world”.

His ambitious plan would be to promote players from United's academy and into the first-team, citing Barcelona as the perfect example.

He said: “I would love to (return), because Newcastle were my first club in the Premier League and they deserve better.

“Geordies deserve to have one of the biggest clubs in the country, in Europe, in the world. They’ve got the potential, but for many years things have been done in very weird ways, not making the club better.

"I want to see the club being successful and not only in terms of results – in terms of stability and how they work with the academy too.

"When I played at Newcastle, Geordies were in the team and they gave us something important – the heart of the club, the passion.

"I have so many ideas and I’d love to put something in place in a club, the way I see football, everyone aiming for the same thing, like a family. You need to explain to the fans, ‘We have a project, and I’ll tell you exactly what it is’.

He continued: "If I worked for Newcastle, it would be easy to say, ‘I’m going to buy a Spanish guy, a French guy, an Italian guy, a German guy and I’ll make the team great’.

"That’s an easy way: you’ve got the money and you buy the best players around, but I’d want to bring the academy players to the first team, a bit like Barcelona under Joan Laporta, with Messi, Busquets, Pique, Xavi, Iniesta.

When you’re a foreigner and you arrive at Barcelona, you see that most players were at the academy, and they’re the soul of the club. You need a soul – that’s what’s going to make you win trophies.”