Roar sign Papadopoulos to cover Bowles' injury

The free agent defender will link up with John Aloisi's squad "as soon as possible" as Brisbane look to compete on two fronts in the coming months

Brisbane Roar have moved quickly to cover Daniel Bowles' absence due to injury by signing Australian-born Greece international Avram Papadopoulos.

Roar revealed on Tuesday that Bowles will need surgery on his right knee after it was discovered he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in the latter stages of Brisbane's 2-2 draw away to Melbourne City on Saturday night.

With the 25-year-old defender set for a long stint on the sidelines, Brisbane have brought in Papadopoulos as an A-League injury-replacement player, while the 32-year-old will also be eligible for John Aloisi's AFC Champions League (ACL) squad.

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Papadopoulos is in Europe but Roar expect him to arrive in Australia "as soon as possible".

"We were made aware of the player's availability and thankfully, we acted quickly and managed to get the result we were looking for, especially with the AFC Champions League player registration deadline looming," Roar's Football Director Craig Moore said in a statement.

Papadopoulos, who last played for J.League club Jubilo Iwata in November, was born in Melbourne but grew up in Greece and has played 37 matches for the European nation.

The centre-back started his professional career with Aris Thessaloniki before joining Greek Super League giants Olympiacos in 2008.

After making almost 200 appearances in all competitions for Olympiacos, winning five league titles and playing in the Champions League, Papadopoulos moved to Trabzonspor in Turkey before utilising his Australian passport to join Shanghai Shenhua under the 3+1 rule in January 2015.

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He joined Jubilo Iwata midway through the 2016 J.League campaign and played 13 matches.

Papadopoulos was reportedly rejected by Sydney FC in January due to his connection with an ongoing match fixing claim in Greece, with the veteran defender having been named by prosecutors last year as one of 85 individuals of interest.