I visited Bruno Guimaraes' 'best' place in Tokyo & was blown away amid Newcastle United double transfer boost

After four solid days in Tokyo barely lifting my head from my laptop, I was anxious to see what the city had to offer aside from the ‘Lost in Translation’ vibes most associated with the famous capital city of Japan.

After working through the night and into the early hours of the morning to free up some time to try and enjoy the city ahead of Newcastle’s final match against Yokohama F. Marinos at the Japan National Stadium on Saturday (11am kick-off BST/7pm local time), I made a decision inspired by Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali, Alexander Isak and Joelinton.

But, of course, it would be the one time Newcastle would make not one but two transfer breakthroughs in the same day!

The £195million quartet ventured to Tokyo Disney Sea on Thursday with Guimaraes, a frequenter of Disney theme parks, posting an image of himself and his Newcastle teammates on social media. The Brazilian regularly visits Disneyland Paris and has stated on social media that Disney is: “The best place to create memories.”

That was enough to convince me to make the trip across Tokyo to Disney Sea for a few hours on Friday afternoon. Being a 90s child brought up on Disney and having visited several other Disney theme parks like Bruno, I was keen to see what Japan had to offer.

With Disney World in Florida an obvious comparison, I went in with high expectations and was initially quite underwhelmed. One of the first ‘big’ rides you come across in the park is ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ which had a lengthy queue time so thought it would be best dodged until later.

But that meant the first hour at the park was queueing for slow, tame rides that certainly didn’t whet the appetite of a Disney-mad adrenaline junkie like myself. Still, things soon picked up with the iconic Tower of Terror (possibly my favourite of all Disney rides) and the Toy Story Mania! Interactive experience.

But I was quickly whisked away from my Disney dream after a brief encounter with Mickey Mouse as my phone started blowing up - it must be that much-anticipated transfer breakthrough. And that it was with Newcastle agreeing a fee to sign Sheffield United forward Will Osula for an initial £10million.

It’s now a case of agreeing personal terms and a medical for the 20-year-old Dane. He’s maybe not quite the Disney fairytale signing supporters were hoping for but would still be a promising attacking option for The Magpies behind Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson heading into the new season. Anything more would be a push.

It was then a case of ‘work mode’ right in the middle of a busy Disney theme park - which serves my right for trying to enjoy myself. Fortunately it was soon back to the rides and the benefit of being a solo rider at Disney Tokyo Sea is that you get to jump the queue for the majority of rides with the exception of ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ which continued to elude me with its lengthy queue time.

After a few roller-coaster rides and an Indiana Jones adventure later, I was whipped back into action in typical Indiana Jones fashion by news from David Ornstein that Newcastle had opened negotiations with Crystal Palace and England centre-back Marc Guehi.

I will hold my hands up and say this was a bolt out of the blue as far as I was concerned - but Ornstein rarely misses when it comes to transfers so took it very seriously. Guehi is some way closer to the Disney fairytale signing we would like to see this summer, but the defender is likely to demand a significant transfer fee.

Newcastle also had an interest in Michael Olise from Palace but couldn’t compete with Bayern Munich for his signature in the end, so there’s no guarantee of a further breakthrough for Guehi just yet.

But finally some positive news on the transfer front for Newcastle. After another quick work break, I was determined to end the day on a high as a bit the bullet and queued almost an hour for ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’. Fortunately, it did not disappoint.

It was the ride that cemented Tokyo Disney Sea’s place as my favourite Disney theme park - above anything Paris, California or even Florida has to offer. I was blown away.

The start of the ride very much mirrored Newcastle’s start to the summer transfer window, slow and underwhelming. But then the ride kicked into action with an almighty bang and kept going until the end.

Let’s hope Newcastle’s summer transfer business follows the same path.