The 25-year-old, who was integral to Adelaide's 2015/16 A-League double, had several big money offers from clubs in Asia, where his brother Ryan plies his trade with Chinese outfit Guizhou Zhicheng.

McGowan has instead opted to try his luck in Europe with a view to representative honours, according to his agent Buddy Farah.

The ex-Hearts man has been capped at Under-20 and Under-23 but has never represented Australia at senior international level.

"He had many lucrative offers to join Asian clubs in this window and the last window but had only one thing on his mind and that was to tough it out in Europe against some of the best Portuguese players and clubs," Farah told FourFourTwo.

"Hopefully not taking the easy option in Asia will reward him with a berth in the Socceroos in the foreseeable future."

Pacos Ferreira are a stable Primeira Liga club who finished seventh in the top flight last season.

The club, affectionately known as the Beavers, have competed in the Primeira Liga for the past 12 years against the likes of FC Porto, Benfica and Sporting Lisbon. They were relegated in 2003-04 but returned immediately by winning the second tier.

The club was previously home to Socceroos left-back Jason Davidson but few Australians have plied their trade in Portugal, the home of the current European champions.