Luke Littler told there's 'no chance' he'll ever be the GOAT of darts as brutal MVG verdict given

Michael van Gerwen has laid down the gauntlet to young darts prodigy Luke Littler, unequivocally asserting that the teenager has zero chance of surpassing Phil Taylor's historic 16 world titles. The buzz has been building around the 17-year-old, with some pundits suggesting he could potentially overtake the darts legend.

However, a forthright Van Gerwen, armed with three world championship titles himself, dismisses such talk outright. During his conversation with Sports Boom, the 35-year-old Dutch ace, who noted that Taylor clinched his final world title at 52, stated firmly: "Don't talk about the potential of breaking Phil's [Taylor] records, there is no chance!"

As Van Gerwen gets ready for his upcoming performance at Ally Pally, he couldn't help but take a cheeky jab at the rising star who is gearing up for his second showing at the iconic venue. Littler is set to go head-to-head against 'The Barber' Ryan Meikle in the second round on Saturday evening.

He continued, acknowledging the talent of Luke's competitor: "Ryan Meikle is a good player. Of course Luke is a massive favourite but Ryan is quite a slow player so maybe there could be a surprise, you never know. It wouldn't be the first tournament he loses the first round this year as well [smirks]. But I still expect him to win."

Meanwhile, Meikle - ranked 62 in the world - admitted he is relishing the chance to be playing someone of Littler's calibre after beating 'The Queen of the Palace' Fallon Sherrock 3-2 in the first round on Tuesday.

"I'm excited. I'm looking at it as a positive thing. The chance to play the boy who everyone's talking about," Meikle told BBC Radio Suffolk. I'm not going to sit here and say yeah I can win - obviously I've got a chance - but I'm excited and looking forward to it."