This time last year it appeared Robin van Persie’s career was again on the verge of something remarkable. There had been that World Cup header against Spain, an exceptional and lasting decoration to the portfolio of a striker who has specialised in the jaw-dropping.

Run through any of the YouTube compilations of Van Persie’s goals and note how many times commentators use the word “sumptuous”. There had been the high-five celebration with Louis van Gaal on the Salvador sideline, a good omen, surely, for the Holland pairing that would be working together at Old Trafford the following season. Even Daley Blind, a third Dutchman, versatile defender-cum-midfielder and supplier of the astute long ball that allowed Van Persie to do his Superman impression in Brazil, was coming to Manchester too. What could possibly go wrong?

Something must have, for Van Persie will soon be packing his bags for Istanbul, a destination that the little boy inside him is unlikely to be screaming about, at least not in a positive way. Right now Van Persie is probably doing his best to ignore the advice being offered by the idealist within, for when you are a few weeks short of your 32nd birthday you have a duty to listen to the more grown-up, pragmatic voices of agents and accountants.

Nothing in particular went wrong for Van Persie in his last couple of seasons at United, it was just that not enough went right. He was not alone. The same could be said of Ángel Di María and Radamel Falcao, both of whom made the £24m Sir Alex Ferguson spent on Van Persie three years ago look an absolute bargain, though the eyebrows that were raised when previously parsimonious United pushed the boat out for a 29-year-old with a patchy injury record ultimately expressed a valid concern.

Van Persie had one glorious season at Old Trafford, followed by two ordinary ones. Perhaps the departure of Ferguson did not help, and Van Persie seemed to find it difficult to warm to David Moyes, though his limited contribution last season under Van Gaal – 10 goals in 29 appearances – tells its own story.

Injuries did not quite return to haunt the striker, not in the way that led to him being sidelined for long stretches at Arsenal in any case, though fitness issues seemed to hamper him in each of his last two seasons, with Moyes worried he was not getting the right treatment and Van Gaal expressing concern that he was not involved in games as much as he should be. Even with age catching up with him, Van Persie remains a formidable technician and one would not be surprised to see his finishing prowess flourish once more in new surroundings, but United have to be businesslike and unsentimental about the situation.

First, they have spent two years treading water and need to take off again. They require a striker who can be exceptional now, not one struggling to recapture his former brilliance. Second, United have Wayne Rooney, who has never quite managed to strike up a playing rapport with Van Persie and when playing as a striker usually takes up similar positions. As a partnership, Rooney and Van Persie never really took off. One always seemed likely to dislodge the other from United’s strongest side. Initially it appeared Rooney might be the one forced out by Ferguson’s preference for Van Persie, and had the Scot stayed in control a little longer that might have happened. But Moyes and Van Gaal both favoured Rooney, the latter emphatically, and it was Van Persie who began to lose his place in the team.

Without goals, Van Persie could have little argument, even if Falcao and the rest were also failing to convince. Rooney managed only 14 goals for United last season, his lowest ever total, though a lot of the time he was deployed in midfield, ironically to allow the strikers their chance to shine. Now that Falcao has moved on to Chelsea and Van Persie has been allowed to talk to other clubs, United have a vacancy for a proven striker who can hit the ground running, ideally someone who can match the template Van Persie himself set out on his arrival from Arsenal when, with 30 goals from 48 appearances, including 26 in the league, he provided the cutting edge that won the title back from Manchester City.

The statistics are impressive enough, though with Van Persie they do not begin to tell the whole story. Some of the goals he scored for Arsenal were simply sublime, especially the stunning left-foot volleys against Everton and Liverpool, not to mention what Arsène Wenger described as the goal of a lifetime when he took to the air to volley home against Charlton.

It would have been the goal of most people’s lifetimes, at any rate. In the Van Persie scrapbook it has to fight for prominence with some ridiculously spectacular goals scored for Holland, most notably against Spain and Ecuador, and a few more perfectly executed volleys in the Manchester United shirt. The player’s opening goal for his new club was quite typical, a deftly clipped in left-foot volley against Fulham that was in the back of the net before most of the visitors had woken up to the danger. Van Persie had just scored with his first shot for United on his home debut, and even Wenger could not help expressing admiration. “I just thought it was another lovely goal by Robin, nothing too unusual about that,” the Arsenal manager said. “It took me a few seconds to remember he was no longer an Arsenal player.”

Wenger took some stick over losing Van Persie to United, when really supporters should be thankful for a manager who bought what would prove an ideal Arsenal signing for a knockdown price of just £2.75m. Feyenoord originally wanted £5m. Subsequent events proved they were robbed. No one really has a right to complain. In his time in England Van Persie has been a joy to watch, a rare treat. Some of his goals had to be seen to be believed, and the memories will last for years. Sumptuous is probably the word.