Manchester United: It's Time for Red Devils to Cut Ties with Robin Van Persie

In 2012, Robin Van Persie joined Manchester United from Arsenal in hopes of winning his first EPL title. The Dutchman got that title in his first season at Old Trafford, and United enjoyed having a truly world-class striker in their ranks for about a season and a half.

However, with Van Persie being 29 years old at the time of the transfer, there was always the risk that spending £24 million (via Transfermarkt) on an "older" player would look questionable in a few years' time.

That time has come for Van Persie.

The striker, who has certainly serviced the club well and enamored himself with the fans, has gone through a fairly rapid decline this season.

At times, with his graying hair, it's easy to forget he's only 31 years old, an age where a player should at least be in the latter stages of his prime. But Van Persie's decline hasn't only showed itself in his physical appearance: his goals tally has been on a steady fall the past three seasons (29 in all competitions, 16, and 10 this year), and it's genuinely hard not to ignore his frightening lack of pace.

Van Persie, this season, proved to be a shadow of his former self, but that certainly doesn't mean he's an incompetent player. The Dutchman is still strong in the air and relatively strong on the ball, and his masterclass two-goal performance vs. Southampton in December showed his finishing isn't gone either.

While Van Persie doesn't seem to have a major issue with his finishing, his main pitfalls at this stage of his career are getting himself in position to convert chances, and imposing himself on games.

Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press

With his lack of speed, most of his goals (at least at the level of the EPL) will come through the service of his teammates or capitalizing on opponents' mistakes, as he provides little threat in terms of dribbling past defenders or making effective vertical runs (just 0.8 dribbles per EPL match via WhoScored.com). When the creators around him struggle, his performances suffer, as there is little he'll conjure up something special.

It's not terribly uncommon for an aging striker's goals to dry up, or for his pace to diminish, but the fact that Van Persie's mediocre 10 goals were his greatest contribution of the season is telling. He has never been a very good defensive player, or a particularly hard worker, but this season he also struggled immensely to involve himself in matches.

Per WhoScored.com, Van Persie averaged a putrid 20.4 passes per EPL match this season. If the forward didn't find a way to notch himself on the scoresheet, his performances were extremely forgettable and ineffective. In fact, United's best run of form, in the latter part of the campaign, came without him on the field.

Ultimately, Van Persie did experience injury issues this season, and there will be some adoring fans wanting to bring him back and deem last season a fluke.

However, injuries or no injuries, Van Persie has been on a steady decline for a couple of years now, and received more than a fair share this season (27 EPL appearances) to prove he can still get it done.

His play this season was unconvincing if not poor, and unfortunately, it's probably time for him to be cut loose.

Stats and info via ESPNFC and WhoScored.com