Luke Littler to parade World Championship trophy at Man Utd vs Brighton but won’t give flops pep talk before clash

LUKE LITTLER will parade the Sid Waddell Trophy on Sunday in front of Manchester United fans on the Old Trafford pitch.

The Nuke – the sport’s youngest world champion aged 17 – will be guest of honour for the Premier League clash with Brighton.

The Warrington ace, a long-term Man Utd fan, will show off the silverware, which he won on January 3 by beating Michael van Gerwen in the Ally Pally final, to the 75,000-strong crowd at half-time.

It has been moved from pre-game to avoid a clash with the emotional tributes to former United and Scotland striker Denis Law, who died on Friday aged 84.

Littler is not set to see Ruben Amorim’s players before the game against the Seagulls nor give any team talks but he is set to meet with them post-match.

On Tuesday, he will turn 18 and then a few days later, he will travel to Den Bosch in Holland for the two-day Dutch Darts Masters.

The world No.2 flew home on Saturday from the Middle East after losing to Gerwyn Price in the quarter-finals of the Bahrain Darts Masters.

Twelve months ago – the month in which he lost the 2024 world final to Luke Humphries – he watched a 2-2 draw with Tottenham from the United directors’ box.

On the VIP visit, he met legendary boss Sir Alex Ferguson backstage and posed for a photo.

He has also made trips to the Carrington training ground and took part in a nine-dart challenge with United players Harry Maguire and Christian Eriksen.

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Meanwhile, Phil 'The Power' Taylor has likened Littler to a Red Devils legend.

The darts legend believes that Littler's achievements at his tender age are comparable to that of Wayne Rooney.

He told SunSport: “Luke has a tremendous temperament. He’s a cracking little lad. For a 17-year-old, he’s brilliant.

“Honestly I have never seen anything like him. Apart from Wayne Rooney.

“I can see parallels. They come across as really nice people, which they are. But when they’re on that pitch or the dartboard, they are killers! There’s no stopping them.

“You have to go out and beat him. You cannot expect them to play bad against you. Because they won’t.”