Luke Littler revealed he received text messages from David Beckham and Luke Shaw ahead of his PDC World Championship final against Luke Humphries on Wednesday night.
The 16-year-old shot to stardom with a fairytale run at Alexandra Palace over the last three weeks, before falling to the world No1 7-4 in the final.
Littler led 4-2 and had one dart to go three sets clear, before Humphries rallied back to rattle five sets in a row to clinch his maiden PDC World Championship.
The Warrington born teenager's meteoric rise saw him run shoulders with Arsenal duo Declan Rice and Aaron Ramsdale and attend Tottenham's home win against Bournemouth at the weekend.
But as a Manchester United fan, Littler admitted he could hardly believe Beckham and Shaw got in touch with him ahead of the final, while United youngster Kobbie Mainoo and former United player Jesse Lingard followed him on social media.
'David Beckham saying good luck,' he told Sky News' Mark Austin when asked what was the best message he'd received during the tournament.
'Luke Shaw messaged me saying good luck. Got a follow [on social media] from the youngster Kobbie Mainoo and obviously former player Jesse Lingard.
'It's crazy to think about them watching me when I've been watching them follow and I think many years where I've got two more.'
Littler entered the World Championship as a 66-1 outsider, but went into Wednesday's final as the favourite after thrashing 2018 winner Rob Cross 6-2 in the semi-finals.
His performances at the Ally Pally have catapulted him on the back pages of national newspapers and on morning TV shows across Britain.
While at the oche the teenager has shown a composure that belies his tender age, he admitted he and his family are still struggling to
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