So, a few days on, and what do we make of Sanogo’s appearance in the last two matches before the Sunderland game?

Hopefully a little more than poor old Jamie Carragher who on Sky seemed beside himself with consternation, unsure whether he was supposed to suggest that bringing on Sanogo against Bayern was a desperate throw of the dice, or the wild actions of a manager who had lost the plot.

Certainly, watching Carragher do the Bayern preview it is clear that he did not know just how serious the injuries to Sanogo had been, (or indeed that the player had had any injuries at all) for he didn’t mention the young man’s terrible misfortune this season at all in his opening tirades.

Then the camera left Carragher in a hurry and next time we saw him, his was burbling about nobody knowing how long Sanogo had been out, what the matter was with him, and so on, whilst endlessly repeating a mantra about “why now?”

Confused though Carragher may have been by the inclusion of Sanogo against both Bayern and Liverpool, the answer is not hard to discern if one just unravels the interesting set of issues that surround the arrival of Sanogo on the scene.

a) Arsène Wenger either refused to or failed to buy a new striker during the last two transfer windows. That’s an irrefutable fact.

b) Olivier Giroud has played most of the Arsenal games, but has recently had what is euphemistically known as “a centre forward’s moment” with a model. (It seems to be something that befalls Arsenal centre forwards – Robin VP did much the same thing while at the club).

c) Arsenal are fighting on three fronts, but not even the most optimistic of fans is hoping for a treble – so downplaying one or two of the competitions while simultaneously giving an up and coming youngster a chance and the regular number 9 a rest, is not a bad notion.

d) Despite Mr Carragher’s ignorance, Sanogo has had terrible injury problems in the past, including a double break of a leg during a reserve game this season. So playing him while he’s fit and available seems a good idea.

In fact you can take any two of those points and combine them together and get a good reason for playing Sanogo in either the Liverpool or Bayern game. But playing him in both? That suggests there might be a fifth issue, which is…

e) Arsène Wenger believes that Sanogo is seriously good.

Certainly, at the moment, most clubs who come up against Sanogo will not quite know what to expect. The reports say, and what little we have seen of him shows, that he can be a menace both in the box and outside the box. He has a remarkable touch, an extraordinary shot, and is full of enthusiasm and drive.

And the opposition don’t yet know how to play him.

So it could be, and I have to say I think this is true, that Mr Wenger genuinely believes that he has found a brilliant young centre forward who can share the mantle with Giroud.

Indeed we might add that the performance that Giroud put in during these last two games was certainly on a par with the performances that Thierry Henry gave during his first two matches for Arsenal.

And then we must not forget that additionally we have Podolski and Theo. Theo, of course is not going to be seen again until next season (unless it is to pick up a league winner’s medal in May), and Podolski is never given a full game.

But still Podolski is perfectly capable of wreaking havoc on defences when he does enter the arena – but it looks very much that the manager feels that Podolski needs to be handled with care, and played only every so often. Fair enough – if when he does appear he scores.

Of course the whole thing is a matter of balance. If all our centre forwards are fit, then someone is going to be very upset and start asking for a transfer because he is not playing. But if most of them are either injured or tired and emotional, then we have another sort of problem – and one that is only solved by having four players who can play at number 9.

The thinking that we really only had one fit centre forward in Giroud is what made the media so excited about buying a new number 9 in January. But that thinking ignored Podolski’s return from injury, what might happen next season if everyone is fit, and the plans Wenger obviously already had in mind for Sanogo.

And that is why no centre forward was purchased in either of the last transfer windows. Far from having one centre forward we have four: Giroud, Podolski, Walcott and Sanogo.

And throughout all this I haven’t even mentioned Bendtner.

I must admit that for a while this season I thought Wenger might be attempting to rehabilitate Bendtner, but now I think not. The fact that he is now not even finding a place on the bench suggests to me that his time really is past, and that he was only drafted back in as a stop gap until Sanogo was ready.

We have our four centre forwards. Who needs more than that?