THE Roar will have Western Sydney Wanderers striker Oriol Riera to thank if new signing Alex Lopez plays a pivotal role in Brisbane’s bid for a fourth A-League title.

Spaniard Lopez, who arrived in Queensland on Friday with his wife Ines and their one-year-old son Lucas, admitted to initially having doubts about signing with the Roar because of the distance between Australia and Europe.

But after reading up on the city of Brisbane and the Roar, and getting in contact with his countryman and Western Sydney Wanderers striker Riera, the 30-year-old midfielder was happy to make the move.

“It’s a great opportunity for my family and for me — it’s a new experience, a new country,” Lopez told The Courier-Mail.

“At first I thought it was too far away from home … but I’m very happy to be here, and Oriol Riera told me how good it was here as well.”

Lopez and Riera were Celta Vigo B teammates almost 10 years ago and the pair remain friends.

“I sent him a text message, and he said the competition was good and growing stronger,” he said.

Another attraction was the Roar’s coach John Aloisi, who played club football in Spain for Alaves and Osasuna.

“My English is not the best so it’s important for me that John can speak Spanish,” Lopez said.

Aloisi is considering giving Lopez some game time when the Roar host the Australian under-20 team in a closed trial on Thursday at the club’s Logan training base.

“I’m pretty confident his fitness levels will be quite good and … hopefully he’s involved in the Young Socceroos game,” said Aloisi, whose side kicks off its A-League campaign on October 21 against Central Coast at Suncorp Stadium.

“It depends how he gets over his jet lag.”

Lopez was confident of being able to make a positive contribution if given a chance on Thursday.

A fan favourite during a loan stint at English Championship club Sheffield Wednesday in the 2015-16 season, Lopez described himself as a “box-to-box” midfielder after careful consideration.

“It’s hard to say the type of player you are, but I love to have the ball at my feet, and like short passing and long passing,” he said.

The former Sporting Gijon player has also been quick to bond with new teammates.

“I can already tell it’s a good group here — it’s like a family here,” he said.