The star coach, who's had global success at clubs in England, Italy and France as well as Australia, welcomes other codes fighting football for the best female talent as an opportunity for the sport to lift its game.
With the minimum wage currently just $26,000, Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) have pushed for the ALW to be fully professional by the 2026-27 season.
Former Melbourne Victory and City coach Montemurro acknowledged clubs' struggles to remain financially viable while running men's and women's teams.
He believes the separation of clubs could be a solution - like at his former club OL Lyonnes, run by billionaire multi-club owner Michele Kang.
"It's an interesting one, because it's happening in Europe a lot - the separation of the clubs - from the A-League Men's to the A-League Women's and an investment just in the A-League Women's," he said.
"I've come from a club where we have an amazing lady (Kang) that's separated OL, a traditional club, from the men's, and it's a stand-alone women's team.
"So is there a restructure piece that needs to be looked at, maybe, which will allow the clubs to ascertain their own commercial value, to ascertain their own commercial gain?
"I don't know - that could be something that that needs to be looked at. But part of the problem is the dilution of the men's club into the women's team and vice-versa. They're trying to both survive that."
AAP understands ownership groups have previously expressed interest in only purchasing or investing into the women's side of A-League clubs.
"That could be another bigger piece in how the league looks like," Montemurro said.
"Does the league have to have its own standalone scenario when there is investment into the women's game? There are things happening and I'm not sure whether we're looking at those things.
"These things are happening in Europe and in South America. Even some Brazilian clubs are starting to get their own investors.
"That could be a way of where we can create an economic sustainability for the women's stand-alone team and then go from there.
"Obviously if you've got the funds, you can probably do a little bit more - but I still think we can be creative without a lot of money."
Another challenge is losing talent, like NRLW star Sheridan Gallagher or AFLW gun Brianna Davey, to other sports.
AFLW clubs have been known to target elite junior soccer players, armed with higher minimum wages (currently $67,337).
Montemurro said the "base" requirement to keeping players was by creating high-performance football, while ensuring they continued to "love the game".
"We have to be the best at what we can do. And that's what I think we're not doing," he said.
"We're just sort of saying, 'oh, the A-League clubs haven't got money, they haven't got this, they haven't got that. Oh, we're just gonna sit in that space'.
"But that doesn't excuse better training, better spectacles, better games, high-quality football. That has to be our starting point.
"And I quite like the competition of the other sports to be honest.
"We've got to start to think a little bit more creatively. We've got to start thinking now a little bit more towards keeping players in the game.
"There are probably a lot of players that have left the game. I can probably guarantee that they've not a good experience in the game."
