God, I love when sports worlds collide. There's something weirdly satisfying about seeing your heroes interact with each other - especially when one of them is a teenage darts phenom and teh other is an £85 million defender suddenly playing striker.

Luke Littler, the darts wonderkid who absolutely demolished MVG at Ally Pally back in January, has been living every Man United fan's dream lately. Not only did he parade his Sid Waddell Trophy around Old Trafford (bucket list item #1 for any United supporter), but he's actually been messaging some of the players directly.

That time Maguire became a striker...

Remember when Harry Maguire scored that last-gasp header against Lyon in the Europa League? The one where Amorim basically threw caution to the wind and stuck him up front as an emergency striker?

Well, Littler couldn't resist having a bit of fun with it.

"When Maguire scored the winner against Lyon, I put on my Instagram, 'Can you wear the No9 shirt?'" Littler revealed.

Maguire's response? Just a bunch of laughing emojis. Classic.

I mean, at this point in United's turbulent season (15th in the Premier League... seriously, what happened to us?), maybe sticking Maguire up front permanently isn't the worst idea? The guy cost £85 million - might as well get our money's worth wherever we can.

The secret DM nobody knew about

But there's a more touching side to this story that actually hasn't been reported until now. Littler apparently reached out privately to Mason Mount, who's been struggling with injuries since his £60 million move from Chelsea last year.

"I don't really speak to them [players]," Littler explained. "Although I don't think anyone knows this, I recently messaged Mason Mount on Instagram just to say it was good to see him back in training again."

That's... actually really sweet? Like, imagine being Mount, constantly dealing with setbacks and criticism about your price tag, and then getting a supportive message from the teenage darts sensation.

When wishes come true (kinda)

Littler also mentioned: "We bought him and thought he'd be great, but he's had a few injuries. I'd love to see him get into the starting team and score goals."

And weirdly enough, that's exactly what happened on Sunday when Mount started against Brentford (only his fifth Premier League start all season) and scored after just 14 minutes.

For about 76 minutes, it looked like Littler might be some kind of football oracle.

Then reality hit. Hard.

Brentford somehow managed to win 4-3 in one of those matches that perfectly encapsulates United's season. So close, yet so painfully far.

From Carrington to catastrophe

Last year, fresh off his darts breakthrough, Littler actually visited Carrington and faced off against some United players at the oche. Must've been surreal for a lifelong fan.

I remember watching those videos and thinking, "This kid is living the dream." Now he's DMing players and suggesting tactical changes to our backline. Talk about a glow-up.

But that's United for you these days - a club where we've replaced Ten Hag with Amorim and somehow ended up in 15th place. A club where our best striker might actually be our most expensive defender.

At least we still have the Europa League... for now.

And we have Luke Littler, darts champion and apparently United's most optimistic fan, sliding into players' DMs with words of encouragement when they need it most.

What's next? Littler as assistant coach?

Look, I'm not saying Ruben Amorim should add Littler to his coaching staff, but the kid clearly has an eye for unconventional tactics. Maguire as striker? It worked once!

Maybe what United needs is the fresh perspective of a teenage darts champion who sees possibilities where others see problems.

Or maybe we just need better defenders. And midfielders. And a consistent striker.

And a time machine to go back to 2013.