Michael van Gerwen insists he won’t allow Luke Littler and Luke Humphries to dominate darts for the next five years, with the Green Machine having already ‘forced Phil Taylor into retirement’.

Van Gerwen has endured a mixed 2024 so far. Last month’s victory at the Hungarian Darts Trophy ended a 16th-month wait for a win on the European Tour, having last triumphed at the Belgian Darts Open in May 2023.

It’s an unusual position for Van Gerwen to find himself in, given the three-time world champion is used to dominating at the oche.

Instead, the Dutchman has been forced to watch on as the two Lukes, Littler and Humphries, sweep up the majority of the titles, with some claims the sport has already entered a new era.

But Van Gerwen admits he isn’t phased by the emergence of Littler or Humphries, and having already forced Phil Taylor into retirement, he’s relishing the challenge of going head-to-head with darts’ next generation of stars.

When quizzed on who the best darts players in the world will be in five years, Van Gerwen told Express Sport he isn’t planning on going anywhere yet.

Speaking in an exclusive interview, the defiant 35-year-old revealed: “I’ll definitely be there [among the best darts players in the world five years from now].

“I’m not going to stop in five years, they’ll [Littler and Humphries] need to do really well to keep me off my position and if they want to win as many tournaments [as me] in five years. I can’t see that happening, but you never know.”

Van Gerwen added: “Nobody knew there was a kid from Holland coming on the block who made Phil Taylor retire, do you know what I mean? That’s how quickly it can go.”

It’s a bold claim, not least because 16-time world champion Taylor hung up his darts with the better head-to-head record, triumphing in 20 of the pair’s encounters, compared to Van Gerwen’s 19 wins. Taylor also came out on top in their only World Championship final meeting back in 2013.

But, by the time Taylor’s darts career was coming towards an end, it was clear Van Gerwen was best placed to inherit the Stoke-on-Trent star’s status as the best player in the world.

Forty-seven PDC major titles later, Van Gerwen is still going strong and believes, despite the threat of Littler and Humphries, he can still end the year on a high.

When asked how he still finds the motivation to keep going, even though he has seen, done and won it all in darts, Van Gerwen replied: “Because I still love what I do.

“Of course, I have my moments where I’ve thought ‘Do I really want to do this?’ but I still love what I do. I think that’s the key what you need to have to produce and to do as good as you want and as you can.”

He added: “Everything I do at the moment is working a little bit against me, I’ve not had the right luck at the right moment. My standard right now is quite good, most games I throw a 100 average. So that’s not too bad.

“But I’m not in that zone where I want to be, but the most important moment of the year still has to come.”

Van Gerwen returns to the oche in search of his first major title this year at the World Grand Prix in Leicester next week.

Early Payout is available on every match at the BoyleSports World Grand Prix, which starts on Monday 7th October at Leicester’s Mattioli Arena.