David Ginola: Former France winger returns home after surgery

Ginola launched an unsuccessful bid to become Fifa president in 2015

Former France winger David Ginola is back at home following his quadruple heart bypass operation.

The 49-year-old former Newcastle and Tottenham player required the procedure after going into cardiac arrest playing football in the south of France on Thursday, 19 May.

He tweeted: "Home at last! Thanks so much to all of you for your incredible messages of love and affection!"

Surgeon Gilles Dreyfus said Ginola was "extremely lucky" to be alive.

The professor of cardiac surgery at the Monaco Heart Centre said the ex-France international "was shocked four times on site" by an ambulance crew. They were able to restore a normal heart rhythm and within 10 minutes a helicopter arrived to transfer him to the centre.

Ginola, who won 17 caps, retired in May 2002 and has gone on to become a pundit with the BBC, BT Sport, Canal Plus and CNN.

He moved to Newcastle from Paris St-Germain for £2.5m in 1995.

A fans' favourite at St James' Park, he joined Tottenham in 1997, winning the 1999 League Cup with the Londoners.

That same season, he was named the PFA players' player of the year and the Football Writers' Association's footballer of the year.

He went on to play for Aston Villa and Everton.