Michael van Gerwen is heading into a critical stretch of his darts career, with Paul Nicholson warning that a slide down the rankings could have major consequences — including his long-standing place in the Premier League Darts. According to Nicholson, if van Gerwen finds himself outside the top 10 in the world for the first time in 15 years, he might not be in the Premier League at all.
The Dutchman could even be outside the top 20 by the start of 2027, and he is defending a significant amount of prize money at the end of the year — specifically from his final run at the 2025 PDC World Darts Championship, where he lost to Luke Littler. Early exits in all of the other major tournaments mean there is a chance for him to gain some ranking money and limit the possible damage at Ally Pally, but his form states otherwise. A first round exit at the World Series of Darts Finals, after missing match darts against Daryl Gurney, sums up his situation — a shambolic title defence adding to his prior woes and setbacks throughout the year.
Aside from the World Cup of Darts, the three-time world champion has failed to reach the quarter-finals in any of the major events. He has made the final session of European Tour events just four times from 11 events, with no final appearances — a daunting figure. There have been positives, though: he won Players Championship 15 while boasting some monstrous averages in the process, and he competed in three World Series of Darts events, reaching the final in all of them while clinching the title in Bahrain and Denmark.
Speaking on the Love the Darts podcast, Nicholson stressed how pivotal this upcoming period is for 'Mighty Mike.' "It's easy for us to sit here and say that he's coming towards the end of his career because he's going only one way in the rankings, but this fall down the rankings is about to define this period of his career," he stated. "I'll always be in Michael's corner because he's been there for a lot of people when they haven't been at their peak and when they've struggled. He's the kind of person who will put an arm around your shoulder and say, 'Are you okay? Are you all right? Do you need anything?' He's done it to more than one person, and I will always be grateful for what he's done for myself and others because of that."
Nicholson outlined what van Gerwen must do next. "As he slips down the rankings, what we should do as a collective is say, 'You're not finished. You know you're not finished. You've got people in your corner, but what are you going to do about it?' Ultimately, it's all up to you. Get it mentally right. Get it practised right, which he always seems to do. But the definition of a comeback is from what you do on the stage in moments, and those moments are fewer than before. So go out and average 122 in a semi-final like he's done this season against Martin Schindler. That was proof to the world that the game is still there, but will it be there for the next four months? Because if he's outside the top 10 in the world for the first time in 15 years, he might not be in the Premier League."
Van Gerwen will face Ryan Joyce in the opening round of the World Grand Prix, a tournament he has won six times, most recently in 2022.
