Full name Borja González Tomás Playing position 1996–2009 Atlético Madrid Weight 82 kg Parents Miguel González Bastón | Place of birth Madrid, Spain Number 10 Height 1.91 m Career start 2009 | |
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Date of birth (1992-08-25) 25 August 1992 (age 24) Current team Swansea City A.F.C. (#10 / Forward) Similar Mike van der Hoorn, Modou Barrow, Jordi Amat, Leroy Fer, Àngel Rangel Profiles | ||
Borja González Tomás (born 25 August 1992), known simply as Borja and sometimes nicknamed Bastón, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Swansea City.
Contents
- Atltico Madrid
- Swansea City
- International career
- Personal life
- Career statistics
- International
- Individual
- References
Formed at Atlético Madrid, he spent much of his tenure out on loan, including successful spells at Deportivo and Zaragoza in Segunda División.
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.
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. He made his senior debuts in the 2009–10 season, scoring 12 goals for the reserve team in the third division.
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 game against Getafe CF. 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.
Seven months after his injury, Borja re-appeared with Atlético B, as a substitute in a 1–0 win over CP 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."
In late August 2011 Borja was loaned to Real Murcia, freshly promoted to the second level. On 30 August of the following year he moved to SD Huesca also in a temporary deal, 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 CD Numancia, but was sent off for a second yellow card near the end of the game.
On 28 August 2013, Borja joined Deportivo de La Coruña on a two-year loan. After helping his team return to the main tier at the first attempt, he moved to fellow league club Real Zaragoza also in a temporary deal, 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.
On 31 July 2015, Borja was loaned to SD Eibar in the top flight. He scored his first goals in the competition on 23 September, helping to a 2–2 draw at Levante UD. He was named the La Liga Player of the Month for October, for his goals against UD Las Palmas, Sevilla FC and FC Barcelona.
Swansea City
On 11 August 2016, Swansea City signed Borja on a four-year contract for a club record fee of £15.5 million. He made his debut in the Premier League on 18 September, replacing Jack Cork for the final eight minutes of a 0–1 loss at Southampton, and scored his first goal on 15 October again off the bench in a 2–3 defeat away to Arsenal.
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.
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 its reserves – and spent most of his career with Real Burgos CF.