Everton made an attempt for McGinn in the summer, with the Scot appreciating the gesture,
"I had no thoughts really about leaving. It was a little bit of a confidence booster for me, at the age I am, that teams would be interested, but I think most clubs around the country were aware that we had to be in a selling position this summer, so no one was not safe from that, but no one was unavailable for transfer,” McGinn explained.
“But when my situation arose, the club made it clear from the first minute that I wasn't for sale and I was important here. I'm the captain, and I was valued still so highly. They made that clear."
McGinn penned a deal to 2028 this week, with manager Unai Emery, club chief Damien Vidagny and also owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens all speaking with the midfielder during negotiations.
McGinn continued: “There was no sort of grey area. I was told right away, so from that day my head was completely fine. I trusted those that said it – the manager, Damian, Nassef, Wes – they were all clear that they wanted me to be around, and they still felt that I had so much more to give.
“So when you have that confidence, obviously it's still nice to get the interest and realise that you're still someone that other teams would potentially want, but when you feel so valued and loved here, then it really was a no-brainer just to completely park that, train and play, and trust that the club would sort it.
“And in fairness, they stood by their word as well. It's very easy these days for clubs to say one thing and do another, but they stuck to their word and made sure that after everything - which was really important for the club moving forward - was sorted, that they would concentrate on my situation, and thankfully, I managed to get it done.”