Robin van Persie is returning from injury this week for Manchester United. Injuries have been a part of the superstar's career, but in the past his reputation preceded him. He was a lethal striker that was the ideal target man for any team's attack.

At 31, that is starting to change. And the Dutchman is suddenly facing a rather interesting situation at his current club. Once the undisputed talisman in 2012-13, he finds himself returning after two months of absence. He last played on Feb. 21 against Swansea City. But since that date, the team has gone on a tear winning five straight in the English Premier League and losing only in the Championship.

The result is a team comfortably in the top four of England and looking for a return to the Champions League.

In that interim, Wayne Rooney has reclaimed his status as the team's go-to striker and has actually performed admirably with five goals in that span.

For Van Persie, it has been a rather frustrating year. Once a man capable of coming close to 30 goals year-in, year-out, he has just 10 strikes to his name at this juncture in the year and is unlikely to even reach 20.

His other statistics have fallen by the wayside as well, emphasizing that the decline is not only near but underway. He is averaging fewer shots per game than his career average of 3.7. He has fewer key passes per game (just one per match) than his career average of 1.7. He is dispossessed slightly less than his career average but makes more poor touches than he has throughout his career.

And obviously the goals and assists are down.

But not all is lost for the Dutchman as there are some signs of promise. Never much of a passer, his passing statistics (with the exception of key passes) are actually on the incline. He averages more passes per game, connects on more passes per game overall. He is down on his crosses per game and long balls, however, which does not bode well for him to switch onto a winger or deeper position.

He is also seeing better defensive results this year. His 0.7 tackles per game is tied for a career-high in English competition and is over his career-average of 0.6. His clearances per game are a career-best 1.3. His interceptions per game are just south of his career-average, something not surprising considering the fact that he plays as a forward.

So what does this point to?

Unless he can stay healthy and find a way to score more goals consistently, he should not be Manchester's main man at the tip of the attack. Rooney has proven himself the best option there for the time being and messing with the team's current chemistry is certainly a dangerous thing when one considers how fragile this club was early in the season.

Coach Louis van Gaal is not one to simply hand the reins to star players. As Franck Ribery recently noted, "His idea was that he did not care about names at all, you don't need stars, everybody had to prove themselves again."

Which means that Van Persie has a lot of proving to do after two months off. If not, he might have to think about life on the bench or outside of the Old Trafford.