Borja Bastón

Borja González Tomás[lower-alpha 1] (born 25 August 1992), known simply as Borja and sometimes nicknamed Bastón, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker, most recently for English club Aston Villa.

"Borja González" redirects here. For Spanish footballer born in 1995, see Borja González Tejada.
Borja Bastón
Borja with Eibar in 2016
Personal information
Full name Borja González Tomás[1]
Date of birth (1992-08-25) 25 August 1992[2]
Place of birth Madrid, Spain[2]
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[2]
Playing position(s) Striker
Youth career
1996–2009 Atlético Madrid
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2011 Atlético Madrid B 37 (16)
2010–2016 Atlético Madrid 1 (0)
2011–2012 → Murcia (loan) 20 (4)
2012–2013 → Huesca (loan) 31 (9)
2013–2014 → Deportivo La Coruña (loan) 34 (10)
2014–2015 → Zaragoza (loan) 38 (22)
2015–2016 → Eibar (loan) 36 (18)
2016–2020 Swansea City 38 (7)
2017–2018 → Málaga (loan) 20 (2)
2018–2019 → Alavés (loan) 26 (5)
2020 Aston Villa 2 (0)
National team
2008 Spain U16 3 (6)
2008–2009 Spain U17 22 (12)
2011 Spain U19 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 June 2020

Trained at Atlético Madrid, he spent much of his tenure out on loan and with Atlético Madrid B, this included successful spells at Deportivo and Zaragoza in the Segunda División and Eibar in La Liga. In 2016 he signed with Swansea City, being loaned twice during his contract.

Borja earned 27 caps and scored 18 goals for Spain at youth level, finishing as top scorer at the 2009 U-17 World Cup and winning the European Under-19 Championship two years later.

Club career

Atlético Madrid

Born in Madrid, Borja arrived in his hometown club Atlético Madrid's youth system at the age of four. He began as a goalkeeper, the position which his father played professionally, but he converted him to a forward so that he could enjoy the game more.[3] He made his senior debut in the 2009–10 season, scoring 12 goals for the reserve team in the Segunda División B.

On 15 May 2010, in the campaign's last round, Borja made his first-team and La Liga debut, coming on as a substitute for Tiago in the 58th minute of the match against Getafe. Twenty minutes later, however, he was stretchered off with a serious anterior cruciate ligament injury on his left knee, in an eventual 0–3 home loss.[4]

Seven months after his injury, Borja re-appeared with Atlético B, as a substitute in a 1–0 win over Cacereño. After the match, he stated: "I'm very happy. I've passed really bad times and I've suffered, but now I'm prepared to help the team go up in the league table."[5]

In late August 2011 Borja was loaned to Real Murcia, recently promoted to the Segunda División.[6] On 30 August of the following year he moved to Huesca also in a temporary deal,[7] scoring nine times for the latter during the season as it ended in relegation. On 27 January 2013, he netted in a 2–1 success at Numancia but was also sent off for a second yellow card.[8]

On 28 August 2013, Borja joined Deportivo de La Coruña on a two-year loan.[9][10] After helping his team return to the top flight at the first attempt, he moved to fellow league club Real Zaragoza also in a temporary deal,[11] scoring 22 goals in the regular season, contributing to his team's run to the promotion play-off final and earning a spot in the Team of the Season.[12]

On 31 July 2015, Borja was loaned to Eibar of the top tier.[13] He scored his first goals in the competition on 23 September, helping to a 2–2 draw at Levante.[14] He was named the La Liga Player of the Month for October, for his goals against Las Palmas, Sevilla and Barcelona.[15]

Swansea City

On 11 August 2016, Swansea City signed Borja on a four-year contract for a club record fee of £15.5 million.[16][17] He made his debut in the Premier League on 18 September under Francesco Guidolin, replacing Jack Cork for the final eight minutes of a 0–1 loss at Southampton.[18] He scored his first goal on 15 October again off the bench, in a 2–3 defeat away to Arsenal in new manager Bob Bradley's first game in charge.[19]

Having started just four matches and having not contributed any more goals as the Swans avoided relegation, Borja entered talks in May 2017 with manager Paul Clement and the board of directors over his future.[20] On 4 July 2017, he was loaned to Málaga in La Liga for one year.[21] Both Málaga and Swansea were relegated from their respective divisions.[22][23]

Borja was loaned again on 16 July 2018, joining Alavés also in the Spanish top division.[24] Back at Swansea for the 2019–20 season, he scored his first goal for them since 2016 in a 2–1 win against Hull City in the first league fixture on 3 August 2019.[25]

Aston Villa

On 31 January 2020, Borja joined Aston Villa on a free transfer, leaving Swansea six months before the end of his contract in order to remove himself from their wage bill.[26][27] Sixteen days after signing, he made his debut as a late substitute in a 3–2 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.[28]

On 25 June 2020, after making 2 appearances for Aston Villa, Borja was released.[29]

International career

Borja represented Spain's under-17 at the 2009 FIFA World Cup in Nigeria. As the national team finally finished in third position he won the Golden Boot with five goals, with teammate Sergi Roberto adding three.[30]

With the under-19 team, Borja won the 2011 UEFA European Championship in Romania, but was a support player in a side favouring Álvaro Morata and Juanmi.

Personal life

Borja's father, Miguel Bastón, was also a footballer. A goalkeeper, he also played with Atlético – but only with their reserves – and spent most of his career with Real Burgos.[3]

Career statistics
As of match played 29 April 2020[31][32]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Atlético Madrid B 2009–10 Segunda División B 2312———2312
2010–11 Segunda División B 144———144
Total 3716———3716
Atlético Madrid 2009–10 La Liga 1000—0010
2010–11 La Liga 0000—0000
Total 1000—0010
Murcia (loan) 2011–12 Segunda División 20410——214
Huesca (loan) 2012–13 Segunda División 31910——329
Deportivo (loan) 2013–14 Segunda División 341000——3410
Zaragoza (loan) 2014–15 Segunda División 382210—104022
Eibar (loan) 2015–16 La Liga 361831——3919
Swansea City 2016–17 Premier League 1811010—201
2019–20 Championship 1960000—196
Total 3051010—325
Málaga (loan) 2017–18 La Liga 20200——202
Alavés (loan) 2018–19 La Liga 20420——224
Aston Villa 2019–20 Premier League 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Total 2 0 0 0 0 0 — 2 0
Career total 26489101101028192

Honours

Spain U17

Spain U19

Individual

Notes
  1. This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is González and the second or maternal family name is Tomás.

References
  1. "Squads for 2016/17 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  2. "Borja Baston". Eurosport. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  3. Barreiros, Pedro (3 September 2013). "Bastón vuelve a Riazor" [Bastón returns to Riazor]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  4. "Getafe secure Europa League spot". ESPN Soccernet. 15 May 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
  5. "Borja: "2011 será uno de mis mejores años"" [Borja: "2011 will be one of my best years"]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 21 December 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  6. "Borja González refuerza la delantera grana" [Borja González strengthens grana offence] (in Spanish). Los Pimentoneros. 31 August 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  7. "Borja jugará cedido en el Huesca esta temporada" [Borja will play on loan in Huesca this season]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 30 August 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  8. "El Huesca aprovecha los errores del Numancia" [Huesca take advantage of Numancia's mistakes]. Marca (in Spanish). 27 January 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  9. "Borja Bastón: Juan Carlos me habló increíblemente bien de la ciudad y del club" [Borja Bastón: Juan Carlos spoke incredibly well about the city and the club to me] (in Spanish). Deportivo La Coruña. 28 August 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  10. "Borja jugará cedido en el Deportivo de la Coruña" [Borja will play on loan in Deportivo de La Coruña] (in Spanish). Atlético Madrid. 29 August 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  11. "El Real Zaragoza consigue la cesión del delantero Borja" [Real Zaragoza get the loan of forward Borja] (in Spanish). Real Zaragoza. 27 August 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  12. "El once ideal de la Liga Adelante" [The Ideal XI in the Liga Adelante]. Sport (in Spanish). 23 June 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  13. "Borja Bastón llega cedido a SD Eibar" [Borja Bastón arrives on loan at SD Eibar] (in Spanish). SD Eibar. 31 July 2015. Archived from the original on 6 August 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  14. Martínez, Jonathan (23 September 2015). "Deyverson salva los muebles" [Deyverson saves their bacon]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  15. "Borja Bastón named Liga BBVA Player of the Month for October". Liga de Fútbol Profesional. 5 November 2015. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  16. "Swansea City agree club record fee for Atlético Madrid striker Borja Bastón". The Guardian. 9 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  17. "Swans clinch club-record signing of Borja". Swansea City A.F.C. 11 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  18. "Charlie Austin goal against Swansea gives Southampton first league win". The Guardian. 18 September 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  19. "Bradley suffers defeat in Swansea debut". The Sports Network. 15 October 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  20. "Borja Baston: Manager Paul Clement to consider Swansea City striker's future". BBC Sport. 20 May 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  21. "Borja Baston: Swansea City striker joins Malaga on season long loan deal". BBC Sport. 4 July 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  22. Pritchard, Dafydd (14 May 2018). "Swansea City 1–2 Stoke City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  23. Storer, Adam (18 May 2018). "How Málaga went from rags to riches to relegation". These Football Times. Archived from the original on 27 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  24. "Swansea striker Borja Baston joins Spanish side Alaves on loan". Sky Sports. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  25. Vincent, Gareth (3 August 2019). "Swansea City 2–1 Hull City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  26. "Borja Baston: Aston Villa sign striker from Swansea in free transfer". BBC Sport. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  27. "Borja Baston leaves Swansea City for Aston Villa". Swansea City A.F.C. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  28. Sutcliffe, Steve (16 February 2020). "Aston Villa 2–3 Tottenham Hotspur". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  29. "Premier League clubs publish 2019/20 released lists". Premier League. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  30. "Consuelo de bronce" [Bronze consolation]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 15 November 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  31. "Borja Bastón: Borja González Tomás". BDFutbol. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  32. Borja Bastón at Soccerway. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
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