Sports agent Chubby Chandler claims Luke Littler talks 'too much' and reckons he could be burnt out by the time he is 19.
Littler has taken the world of darts by storm in recent months but Rory McIlroy's former manager has given him some words of advice.
Littler burst onto the scene at the World Darts Championship last December at the age of 16 and made it all the way to the final at Alexandra Palace.
He has since won three professional tournaments, hitting a nine-darter in each of them, as well as having a solid start in his maiden Premier League campaign.
Luke Littler has been told he talks 'too much' by a sports agent
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Littler, now 17, has had plenty of media attention since his rise to stardom and was invited to Old Trafford as a guest of Manchester United in January.
He also appeared on last week's episode of The Jonathan Ross Show on ITV.
Chandler, who also used to manage former England cricket hero Andrew Flintoff, says it has been hard for Littler to 'stay grounded'.
He remembers asking Sir Alex Ferguson for advice and believes the darts star must follow suit.
Chandler told BetIdeas.com: "For a week, two weeks after the World Darts Championship he was at Tottenham, he was at Old Trafford, he was meeting Fergie.
"He was living the dream and that’s tough on a kid like that to stay grounded.
"I remember going to Cheltenham Races in a helicopter with Sir Alex, and I asked him, I said ‘I’ve got this lad, Rory McIlroy, you’ve had Cristiano Ronaldo, how did you treat him and what should I be looking at for Rory?’.
"And it was all about hangers-on, he said he wouldn’t allow Ronaldo to have any hangers-on whatsoever, and he made sure he didn’t do much media because at that age he can only say the wrong thing.
"I listened, Sir Alex is Sir Alex, he has got the trophies. It was very interesting and it is very obvious that Luke Littler is talking too much and is behaving like a 17-year-old."
Littler was called 'arrogant' by German player Ricardo Pietreczko following their match at the Belgian Darts Open on Sunday.
Chandler believes there is an aspect of arrogance to Littler but says the likes of world No 1 Luke Humphries need to play their part in easing him into the sport.
Humphries has previously said it was the duty of fellow professionals to look after Littler.
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Chubby Chandler has sent words of advice to darts star Luke Littler
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Chandler added: "He nearly is [arrogant], isn't he? Luke Humphries, I think they’re in the same stable.
"Luke Humphries has got to put his arm around him and just help him, because if not he’s just going to get taken here and taken there, and 1) just do too much, and 2) talk too much.
"He’s playing in all these two-bit tournaments around Europe now, he probably doesn’t need to play them.
"I’d like to hear what Barry Hearn has to say about it because they’ve never had anybody quite like this before. They’ve had other young guys, but young in darts is 23-24, not 17.
Luke Littler has already won three darts tournaments this year
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"It’s tough. The kid is ridiculously good. He hits a nine-darter every three goes! He’s amazing, and I like watching him."
Chandler says Littler's management team must not try to get too much, too soon out of him.
He said: "That’s where somebody managing him has a big role to play, to just try and get the right deals, the right amount of cash.
"He’s changing the game, but he could be burnt out by the time he’s 19."
