POWER IS STILL ONE IN A MILLION

PHIL TAYLOR says it would take £1m for him to make a sensational comeback.

And the 16-time king of the oche admits it is unlikely – even though sponsors and TV companies would love to see Taylor make an Ally Pally encore.

The Power, 60 next year, concedes the PDC will not bend their rules to accommodate him.

Taylor, who retired two years ago, said: “I’m not going back to Q School or going to chase ranking points at floor tournaments.

“How much would it take for me to come back? Put it this way, if (PDC chairman) Barry Hearn offered me £1m, I would practise like mad and really go for it. But I can imagine him reading this now, picking up the phone and saying, ‘Phil, it’s Barry – £1m? Get stuffed!’. I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

Taylor hopes his former rival Raymond van Barneveld will be given a rousing send-off as the Dutchman, who takes on Darin Young tomorrow, faces his last tournament before retirement.

Taylor added: “Barney has been fantastic for the sport, fantastic for Holland at the World Cup and a fantastic rival.

“What a lot of people don’t appreciate is that he’s put a lot of money in other players’ pockets. Darts wasn’t that big in Holland before he won his first world title.

“Although he didn’t invent fire, he was the one that lit the flames.

“As good as he is, Michael van Gerwen would not have been able to enjoy all his success without Barney as the trailblazer.

“Will I miss him? Not really – because I’ll still be seeing him on the exhibition circuit. We’re doing something like 20-odd dates next year.

“He’ll still be trying to beat me at every one of them, but unfortunately for Raymond, I’ll be trying just as hard to beat him.”