"What's the chances? Otherwise I'm going to send Vincent over for half a million, let's split the money": Michael van Gerwen pours cold water on Beat Luke Littler with hilarious quip

Michael van Gerwen has spoken at length about Luke Littler and the young Englishman's meteoric development. Although the Dutchman has great respect for what the current world number one is achieving, he also sees clear differences compared to his own rise to the very top. Van Gerwen is particularly struck by the way the two players approach their schedules.

Speaking pre-tournament, Van Gerwen was asked whether it gives him extra motivation to prevent Littler from achieving further success. However, the three-time world champion does not want to concern himself with that.

"Not really, I'm just looking towards myself, it would be weird for me to say now or this or that, I'm just looking to myself, to my own performances and when I do well I can challenge him, I know that so that's the only thing why I should worry about," said Van Gerwen pre-tournament.

At the same time, Van Gerwen has great appreciation for Littler's achievements. Littler has rapidly established himself as the dominant player on the PDC circuit and is increasingly being compared with the best periods of Van Gerwen and Phil Taylor.

The Dutchman finds it difficult to directly compare achievements from different generations. "Totally different eras I think but don't get me wrong, what he does for the game and what he does for himself is absolutely amazing."

Littler is also attracting plenty of attention outside the regular PDC tournaments. Netflix has created the programme Beat Luke Littler, in which participants have the chance to win a substantial cash prize by winning a leg against the world number one.

Van Gerwen has heard about the programme and laughed when its format was brought up. He referred to reports that not every strong player is simply allowed to take part in the selection process. "Yeah, I've heard about it but not everyone is allowed to play, they're sending people away who are a little bit too good and things like that. That's a bit naughty.

MVG joked that he would send Van der Voort over for it otherwise. "What's the chances? Otherwise I'm going to send Vincent over for half a million, let's split the money, come on, one leg, come on, get him."

Nevertheless, he believes it would be particularly difficult for a regular amateur to actually beat Littler over a single leg. At the same time, the short format means it is not completely impossible. A few good visits could be enough to create an opportunity.

"One leg. It's of course possible but the first thing is they have to bull up first so when you're just a player that's already the challenge to beat him in that and then if you're allowed to beat him you have to start off really well to put him under pressure so of course it's possible but it's slim chances. They know exactly what they do, don't worry."

Things became more interesting when Van Gerwen was asked to compare his own rise with Littler's. The Dutchman himself broke through at a young age and, after moving to the PDC, eventually developed into the most dominant player of his generation.

However, Van Gerwen sees an important difference between his younger self and Littler. While the Englishman now regularly skips tournaments and deliberately manages his schedule, Van Gerwen says that in his early years he wanted to play almost everywhere.

"I think when I was younger I was more hungry than Luke because when I was in my first, second or third year, I played everything. When I open my eyes I want to go to the Pro Tour, do you know what I mean? And Luke is like I don't really want to go and things like that so we're totally different guys so you can't compare it but I don't know if we did it but social media and everything and it's a lot bigger now than it was before."

when social media and the commercial interest surrounding the sport are much greater than when Van Gerwen took his first steps at the top of the game. He therefore finds a direct comparison between their careers difficult.

Van Gerwen knows better than most what it is like to dominate the darts world at a young age. His 2016 season in particular is regarded as one of the most successful years of his career. During that period, the Dutchman appeared virtually unbeatable at times. The question of when that version of Van Gerwen will return was answered with his trademark self-deprecation. "First I need to throw my dart straight and then the rest comes, yeah?" Van Gerwen won no fewer than 49 Major titles during his career.

The inevitable hypothetical question then followed: what would happen if the Van Gerwen from his peak year of 2016 faced the current Littler?

Van Gerwen naturally did not consider himself without a chance. "Oh, it's a tough one. I think we have a lot of good games and of course it would be me as well but I would definitely beat him in a lot of good occasions as well. Especially in the most important ones."