Story time. Remember Alisha Lehmann and Douglas Luiz? These two soccer superstars, in the women’s and men’s leagues respectively, are not only a power couple but also fortunate enough to represent the same club. Previously, they both played for Aston Villa, but this past summer, the pair moved to Juventus. While Old Turin invested $54 million in Luiz, just over $54,000 was spent on Lehmann.

No, it’s not like we haven’t forgotten to add more zeros behind the transfer fee of the world’s sexiest footballer. This is it. Now if this is the case with their acquisition value, imagine what the difference would be in the couple’s paycheck. Well, there’s no need, just hear what Lehmann had to say about such a disparity with her significant other.

“I’m not a star, I’m a normal person. I go home, I cook, I do the same thing as everyone else. After training, I often tell Douglas that it’s unfair. We do the same job, but he earns a hundred thousand times more than me,” said the 25-year-old forward in an interview once, expressing her clear discontent with the inequality over pay.

This is a topic that has often made strides in the soccer world. To remind you, many influential American soccer stars including Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe went all square against the US Soccer Federation for equal pay. While that ignited the fire for most of the case, another USWNT icon has come forward with a plea for fair pay, none other than Brandi Chastain.

“How can we have a professional environment when we’re not paying a wage that is above almost poverty? That’s where we were. We’re not asking for what [Cristiano] Ronaldo’s making but we’re asking for a comparable salary or salary cap,” confessed Chastain to Gary Neville and Rebecca Lowe on the latest episode of The Overlap US It’s Called Soccer when the former Manchester United star asked the 50-year-old about the things she would like to change in the women’s side of the beautiful game.

Yeah, that’s one thing to wonder though. Ever heard of a female soccer player pocketing a $400 million contract for years or having their applicable release clauses set at a billion-dollar valuation just like the male players are getting today in the worlds of Neymars or Cristianos? Of course, not. Sadly, one can’t do anything but more than just question it.

Will we ever see Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi-type contracts being given to women players?

“I don’t get paid what Jurgen Klopp gets paid for me to take a sabbatical year. So I have to pay the bills,” infamously remarked Emma Hayes when asked why she didn’t decide to go on a vacation after winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics with the USWNT. Of course, a valid question, but so is the answer, making it obvious that ladies in the very beautiful game aren’t getting satisfactory pay.

Now one might argue that it’s all about the market, interest, popularity, and other scalable factors that come into play. Call it controversial but the popularity of both women’s and men’s games has rarely come close. This makes it the strongest point for many to justify the fact that women are being paid less for a reason. While we may not have seen a female soccer player earn Ronaldo-like pay yet, one thing is certain—the day isn’t far off!