The winger was a cult hero at the Magpies when he arrived in the summer of 1995.
Now Ginola has stated that he turned down a move to Arsenal, as he had already agreed to the Newcastle move.
"I gave my word to Terry Mac and Kevin Keegan," he recalled on Not Just Football.
"I said, 'OK, it's done.' What is important for me after all those years - we're talking about 20 years ago - is the man you are. It's not the player you were. The best compliment I can receive these days is, 'We like you as a man'.
"You play 20 years in your career, but the rest of the time you're still a man having your life. If you are just an a------, it doesn't work. It's very important for me after all those years to meet people and they say, 'Oh, I like you. You're a good man.' It's better than, 'Oh you were a good player.'"