Barbarouses will feel more comfortable in Athens. His parents are Greek and his father is a Panathinaikos fan and it will be significantly warmer than parts of Russia - he played one game last season in minus seven-degree temperatures and on a frozen pitch.
Panathinaikos are hopeful of persuading New Zealand Football to allow Barbarouses to miss New Zealand's upcoming Olympic warmup games and meet the team in London - the Oly Whites are due to play the Japan Olympic side in Tokyo on July 11 and South Korea in Seoul on July 14 - but NZF won't agree.
Panathinaikos have third round Champions League qualifiers on July 31 and August 7 and will play Europa League if they don't progress. The Oly Whites play their final group game at the Olympics against Brazil on August 1.
"We have the right to request Kosta from July 12 and that's what we will be pushing forward,'' NZF chief executive Grant McKavanagh said.
It might have been different if Barbarouses was older - Olympic teams can have three overage players - but under-23 players must be released by clubs from July 12 for the Olympics.
Barbarouses' move to Russia, while difficult, seems to be paying off. Panathinaikos are one of the biggest clubs in Greece and finished second behind Olympiacos in the Super League last season.
They play at the Olympic Stadium in Athens which holds 70,000 fans and he will join the likes of French defender Jean-Alain Boumsong, former Liverpool striker Sebastian Leto and Greece midfielder Giorgos Karagounis in the squad.
Barbarouses could have stayed at Brisbane after they won the 2010/11 A-League but wanted to push himself.
"You don't want to set your standard as the A-League,'' he said at the recent Oceania Nations Cup in Honiara. "As good as the league is, you want to be aiming higher and you don't want to get comfortable at that level.
"I wanted to push myself. In the back of my mind I know I can come back but I'm trying to aim as high as possible.''
