"He is pulled all over the place all the time": Luke Littler's on-stage emotions and wanting to quit likely down to media says James Wade

Luke Littler could be the best player ever but James Wade isn't sure whether the current World Champion wants it enough or not due to the constant pulling from pillar to post that he suffers at the hands of the media.

Wade touched upon this during his return to the World Series at the Nordic Darts Masters which was won by Michael van Gerwen on Saturday and said that he could eclipse Phil Taylor but that he isn't sure whether he wants it enough.

Littler has already mostly completed darts as a sport in regards to winning titles with only certain ones left including next week's World Cup of Darts and Wade believes he could achieve everything he wants but only if he stays in the sport which is easier said than done given the attention he gets and whether he can handle it.

“I would say Luke, at the moment, is probably the second-best player that has ever walked the planet," said Wade. "He has been doing it for a couple of years, which is not long to be doing it.

“Don’t get me wrong, he is pulled from pillar to post a lot. I’m not sure how much he wants to do it. That’s what I feel with Luke. If he wants to, he can go and win everything and do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, because he is that good.

“If he keeps going, he is going to be the best player ever. But I’m not sure he really wants to do it so much. Maybe it’s because he has done it all. He has completed it all already, hasn’t he?”

Wade said as much due to Littler's words after he won the Premier League Darts. He managed to win through and then cried on stage admitting that after the Van Veen incident he admitted to his girlfriend Faith that he was on the verge of walking away.

But Wade who is very much open with his emotions and how he feels as a darts player whether it gets under people's skin or not said that for Littler it is likely due to the scrutiny he gets and the amount of media he has to do that he is like this.

“I was surprised when he said he doesn’t want to do it and that he was really tired of it all. I would say, for him, it is not the darts; it is the media side of things because he is pulled all over the place all the time. That is probably what is exhausting him, not the darts.”