Arsenal's Leah Williamson has admitted that growing inequality in the Women's Super League "needs to be addressed" following eye-catching summers of recruitment for the 'big three'.
Ahead of the start of the new WSL season on Saturday, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City have all made big-name signings, threatening to widen the gap to the rest of the division.
World Cup-winning USWNT pair Rose Lavelle and Sam Mewis are expected to be joined at Man City by England full-backs Lucy Bronze and Alex Greenwood, while Chelsea, who start their title defence at Manchester United on Sunday, have recruited Bayern Munich captain Melanie Leupolz and Danish superstar Pernille Harder. Arsenal's summer signings include experienced defenders Steph Catley and Noelle Maritz.
Former England coach Hope Powell, now in charge of Brighton, has warned that the league must remain competitive if it is to continue attracting talent, and Williamson believes the issue should be tackled without the top clubs cutting investment.
"It's quite easy to ignore those issues when you're playing at one of the top three teams," the centre-half told Standard Sport ahead of Arsenal's match against Reading on Sunday. "But when I do speak to people who play for teams in the bottom half of the table, it does open your eyes. I don't think the big teams should stop investing because to compete in the Champions League you simply have to.
"But when we're looking at the sustainability of the league, it needs to be addressed that these lower teams are so severely behind."
The gulf between the top and bottom of the table could be demonstrated when newly-promoted Aston Villa host City in Saturday's curtain-raiser but the big three are not the only clubs to have shown ambition in the market as the WSL continues the grow.
West Ham have signed England's Rachel Daly on loan, United raided Birmingham for Lioness Lucy Staniforth, while Reading have recruited Jess Fishlock.
The Royals, United, and Everton will all be hoping to build on top-six finishes last season, while the chasing pack is also likely to include Tottenham, who host the Hammers on Sunday.
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Spurs have made sensible if unspectacular summer signings, including on-loan Australian internationals Alanna Kennedy and Shelina Zadorsky – part of an Aussie invasion to the WSL.
Chelsea's Sam Kerr remains the league's highest-profile Matilda but she will begin the season under pressure after firing more blanks as the champions beat City 2-0 in last week's Community Shield.
The addition of Harder and return of England's Fran Kirby (below) leave Emma Hayes' reigning champions with no shortage of firepower, however, with Bethany England likely to compete with Arsenal's Vivianne Miedema for the Golden Boot again.
If the three Champions League places feel something of a foregone conclusion, this season will see two FA Cup finals – with last season's competition still to complete and a north London derby the pick of the outstanding quarter-finals on September 26.
But for every WSL club, not least Bristol City, Brighton, Birmingham and Villa, the long-term effects of the pandemic on progress and stability, particularly in terms of crowds, remains to be seen.
England international Williamson is concerned after feeling women's sport was "completely overlooked" during the shutdown.
"I just hope it hasn't damaged the progress we've made over the last couple of years," she said. "We had so much momentum behind the game and things were changing so rapidly for the better. I just really hope as the season plays out, we're not noticing that we were left behind for that period of time."