Absolutely no one in the world of darts would deny Dutch darting deity Michael van Gerwen is one of the greatest players to ever grace the oche.

Some say THE greatest, but most of them are Dutch or from an era where the iconic Phil Taylor wasn’t ruling the stage. All that said, when it comes to the GOAT, it’s generally either one or the other – with teenagers probably giving you the name Luke Littler. All in good time with The Nuke!

There are probably some youngsters who genuinely believe darts began around the same time TikTok appeared and that Taylor is just some bloke occasionally wheeled out on television to remind everyone how much better things were in the old days.

For many right now, the debate remains a two-horse race. One spent two decades treating dartboards with the sort of contempt Gordon Ramsay reserves for menus with images of meals depicted on them. The other came along afterwards and won tournaments so regularly it became less of a surprise than Ant and Dec turning up on ITV on a Saturday night.

And then, very much lurking in the here and now, is Luke Littler. Still young enough to be asked for ID when buying Red Bull, yet already collecting trophies at a pace that would make a kleptomaniac tell him to calm down. Undoubtably, the conversation will soon include him.

Back to MVG. And whilst he once looked like he could walk on water, that doesn’t simply mean he avoided getting wet when all others would become soaked. Sure, he can swim but that’s not the point. No, it’s basically a metaphor that he could defy the impossible. If Michael had turned up at the Red Sea, there are probably a few Dutchmen who’d swear blind he could have parted that as well then started reproducing bread at a freakish rate and turned water into wine.

When Taylor came to the end of his reign, many saw Van Gerwen as the next to wear the crown. And he proved it fitted on his shiny bald head very nicely by more or less winning anything going – often twice and then some. There were tournaments he seemed to win by accident. You half expected him to turn up at Crufts and somehow win that too.

The Dutchman’s averages were like cricket scores – not the England Test team – just your normal Sunday league where the boundary is ten metres from the crease and protected by a kid who looks as enthused to be there as a prisoner of war.

If you ever get the chance to visit Mike’s trophy cabinet, you’ll see it has its own postcode. You can start in the Netherlands and be in Belgium by the time you get to see all the silverware. Yep, it’s that big you require a passport to photograph them all. Ryanair have reportedly considered introducing a direct route from one end to the other. Somewhere in amongst it all, there’s probably an old WDF cup trophy being used as a fruit bowl.

Nowadays though, the landscape has changed. Others have come along and begun collecting titles on a regular occasion. None more so than Luke Littler who, at just 19 years old, only needs one for the full PDC set. He’s like a kid who’s bought a Panini football album, then the entire shop’s collection of stickers, and just needs the St Mirren badge for the lot but doesn’t really want to go to Scotland to pick it up.

Of course, it’s not just Littler cleaning up trophies. There’s the other deadly Luke – Mr Humphries – and quite a few others. In fact, Van Gerwen’s latest ranking major was the 2022 Players Championship Finals. Quite the shock considering he normally left with a big piece of silver every time he rocked up to a venue. At one point, tournament organisers may as well have just engraved his name before the first dart was thrown and saved everyone the bother.

So, upon reflection, it’s a little bit about the field becoming stronger and MVG not quite reaching the stupid heights he did. Now and again, there are fine examples of what he can do, just not quite with the same consistency as before. After Usain Bolt has run 100m in the blink of an eye, the Jamaican speedster can’t keep that pace up all day. Same is the case here.

In 2025, off the oche the Winmau Ace had a year from hell. Aside from countless dental operations, which anyone will testify aren’t fun. It’s like treading on Lego and then, as you jump in agony, hopping onto a landmine. Couple that with a divorce which, whilst most men often see as a blessing, doesn’t come without its own high level of stress. Especially when children are involved. And MVG shares two with his former partner, Daphne.

However, it’s not like Van Gerwen isn’t still winning things though. A Players Championship this season and a couple of World Series Tour events. Whilst he is obviously happy to claim any title, it’s the big TV one he craves.

Worryingly for the Netherlander, his provisional ranking after the World Championships is a lowly 20th. You’d almost have to blink twice to believe that. I genuinely thought my laptop was playing up, so threw it through the window in disgust before buying another one, checking the Order of Merit again and discovering I’d wasted a perfectly good computer for nothing and faced a hefty bill for a new pane of glass. Clearly all that was in jest. But you get the shock factor reference.

Questions then remain. Largely they are twofold: will Van Gerwen get selected for the 2027 Premier League if indeed he is hovering about that spot come January? Secondly, can he make it back to where many – myself included – truly believe he belongs?

As is the beauty of opinion, everyone has one and is entitled to theirs. Whilst I can’t speak for others, I can for myself and the answer to both of the above is an emphatic YES.

Quite simply, Michael van Gerwen IS a player who, when the World Championships come around, you’d be a fool with not just a Dunce’s Hat on but a T-shirt saying “Muppet” across the front if you write this bloke off. He doesn’t need to be sublimely brilliant, just better than his opponent on any given day. And he’s made a career of doing that more times than my Mum has had hot dinners. I could have said myself, but she’s 83 and therefore has eaten more of said meals than me. Most, I presume, were hot. Some may have been lukewarm but I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

That’s the “Can he get back to where he was?” bit out of the way, which I have more or less inferred it would be ridiculous to suggest otherwise.

Now the other question – the Premier League. Assuming MVG isn’t in the top four – and it’s a bold assumption – he would obviously rely on a wildcard. This is where it gets interesting. The PDC recognise Michael van Gerwen is an enormous draw – one of the biggest in world darts. It’s not selling out arenas they are worried about – those tickets are always snapped up. It’s Sky viewing figures. Television executives aren’t daft. They know what attracts eyeballs. ITV didn’t keep making Love Island because the nation was crying out for deep philosophical debates. That said, God knows why they still do though.

Put quite simply, would more people watch if the Dutch legend was involved? Of course they would. Especially those in the Netherlands. Yes, Gian van Veen is a superb player and will go on to have an incredibly decorated career – of that I am sure. But for many in that country, Barney is the Daddy. Mike is the GOAT. For those unaware of that term, GOAT is an acronym and means greatest of all time.

I am not comparing The Green Machine to some kind of shrubbery-munching docile caprine. I’ve seen Mike eat at McDonald’s. No goat has ever demolished twenty nuggets and a large fries before asking if the McFlurry machine is working.

Back to the Premier League poser and less talk of farmyard animals. I think it would be incredibly hard to ignore Van Gerwen as a wildcard, even if others win a TV event too and may feel hard done by to be excluded. Mike De Decker hardly took it well and wasn’t slow in letting us all know. So you could have another situation like that. But realistically, as long as MVG wants it and isn’t throwing like a man holding six pints trying to swat a fly, he’s impossible to ignore.

My prediction? Michael van Gerwen will win a PDC TV major very soon. Nothing like a Decree Nisi and a good set of dentures to clear your head. Elton John had a comeback. Take That reunited. Even Mars Bars got smaller and somehow survived.

Never underestimate the ability of sport to make fools of people who write players off. Especially when the player in question has spent the best part of two decades picking up titles quicker than Prince Andrew is losing them.