Arsene Wenger has said that he wants the next Arsenal manager to take the club to the “next level”.

Wenger attended a Football Writers’ Association live event last night and took questions from the audience. One of those questions was about his eventual successor at Arsenal, a subject that has sparked mass debate over the years.

While everyone has their own idea as to who should succeed Wenger, the man himself has one very simple requirement. “I would like (if) somebody who comes in gets the club to the next level,” Wenger said, reports Tribal Football. “I just want to make sure that the guy that comes in after me is in a condition that he could work well.”

Getting the club to the next level would require the next manager to win the Premier League and make a good run at the Champions League. The number of coaches capable of doing that is small, and the window to sign one of them is even smaller.

Arsenal are a club with great potential, though currently aren’t in the best condition. Had Wenger not signed a new contract this summer, a new manager would have had to deal with several players coming to the end of their contracts without the required support behind the scenes.

There are also several players that have no future at the club. Wenger’s contract runs until 2019, and you’d hope by then that the club is in a much better state than it is now.

With the Gunners finishing fifth in the Premier League last season and potentially losing Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil next summer, Wenger’s successor will have a real task on their hands to take the club to the next level.