Taylor said recently that he expects Peter Wright to take over as World Number One from Van Gerwen; while Van Gerwen himself said that 'The Power' only says those statements to remain in the spotlight but he said this isn't the case.

"Michael (Van Gerwen) will lose the fact that people are scared of him. He isn’t winning the titles like he used to," said Taylor in an interview with DartsWorld.

“Do I need publicity? Not really. I think I’ve done 30 years at the top. If he can do 20 years at the top he’ll be doing well. But he doesn’t bother me in the slightest. Do I care? No, not really. I’m quite happy where I am.

“I can’t run him down, the lad has done brilliantly. You need someone on a pedestal and Michael was the one who took over from me. But I don’t think Michael will ever get me out of his head."

The 16-time World Champion has also said that the practice room isn't the same and that Van Gerwen misses him: “If you asked him truthfully, he misses me. Because it’s not the same. A lot of the players have told me this. The practice room where it used to be brilliant, ask James Wade, ask Gary, they say it’s dead. The characters are not there anymore."