Luke Littler missing darts tournament for bizarre reason involving Manchester United

Luke Littler will miss the Dutch Darts Championship for a bizarre reason later this month.

Littler, 17, has enjoyed an astronomical rise through the professional game across recent months - following his strong showing in the World Darts Championship.

He recently won his fourth night in the Premier League in his debut campaign - but is now set to take some well deserved time off from the sport.

The teenager has recently qualified for World Matchplay, the World Grand Prix and other major events and was promised some time off by his manager if he qualified for all the previously noted events.

Martin Foulds, Littler’s manager, made the promise and it now appears he will miss the upcoming Dutch Darts Championship in order to watch his beloved Manchester United side in the FA Cup final.

“I’m in. I’m going to Wembley," he said.

“Martin said if I do well and get myself into the Matchplay, Grand Prix and other majors, then he’ll pull me out of stuff so I get time. At the minute, I don’t have to do everything.”

Littler was then asked whether or not he believes Erik ten Hag's side can beat local rivals and last season's treble winners Manchester City, where he replied: "Hopefully!”

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United scraped through in the semi-finals against Championship side Coventry City on penalties. The Red Devils led 3-0 but went on to draw 3-3 thanks to a late equaliser from Haji Wright.

Rasmus Hojlund fired his side into the final with the decisive penalty in the shoot-out, although the celebrations were muted following the poor performance.

Littler has regularly leaned into his allegiance to United, after celebrating the 2-0 win for Everton against their rivals Liverpool before appearing in the city for the Premier League event. Littler held the scoreline up before his match, which was not well received by the crowd.