Toma Basic

Toma Bašić was born in Zagreb on November 25, 1996.

His first clubs as a boy were Dubrava and then NK Zagreb.

In 2014 he signed for Hajduk Split but was sent out on loan to Rudeš in the Croatian second tier. He played 25 games and scored 2 goals.

The following season he returned to Hajduk and made his debut on August 10 against Lokomotiv Zagreb. His first goal came against his former club NK Zagreb on May 14. In his first year he played 4 league games and 1 in the domestic cup.

From the 2015-16 season he started to play more regularly and over the next two years played 67 league games with 8 goals, 6 games in the Croatian Cup with 2 goals and 6 games in Europe. In his time with the "Splitski Bili" (The Whites of Split) finished 3rd three times.

In August 2018, after playing 3 more games for the Hajduci he joined Bordeaux in the French Ligue 1. He stayed three seasons playing a total of 82 games with 9 goals. "Les Marines et Blancs" finished 14th, and twice 12th. His managers were Gustavo Poyet (for one game), Éric Bedouet, Paulo Sousa (for a season and a half) and Jean-Louis Gasset.

In August 2021, after playing 3 league games for the Girondins he moved to Italy and signed for Lazio. The Biancocelesti had a new manager Maurizio Sarri and finished 5th. Bašić played 29 league games, 1 in Coppa Italia and 8 in the Europa League with 1 goal (Lokomotiv Moscow).

The following year Lazio finished 2nd and Bašić played 25 league games with 1 goal (Sassuolo in a 2-0 win), 1 game in Coppa Italia and 6 in Europe (4 EL, 2 Conference League).

In his third year at Lazio, he fell out of favour and only played 1 game in Coppa Italia before leaving on loan in January.

So in January 2024 he joined Salernitana in Serie A. When he arrived the Granata were on their second manager Filippo Inzaghi who had taken over from Bašić' former boss Paulo Sousa. By the end of the season, he would have two more, former Lazio player Fabio Liverani (25-29) and then Stefano Colantuono (30-38). The Ippocampi (Seahorses) from Salerno were unsurprisingly relegated in 20th place. Bašić played 15 league games. His teammates included former Lazio, Antonio Candreva (2012-16) and future Lazio, Boulaye Dia and Loum Tchaouna.

He was not kept on by Salernitana so returned to Lazio. He was not part of current manager Marco Baroni's plans initially so was out of the squad. He turned down a few solutions and a few fell through but then in early February was surprisingly included in the Serie A list due to a lack of midfielders in the squad.

Bašić has 2 caps for Croatia and he also represented the "Vatreni" at U19 (8 games) and U21 levels (8 games with 2 goals).

Bašić is a central midfielder. At 1.89 and 78 kilos he is a strong player. He is a good tackler with decent technique and a powerful shot. On the down side he is not particularly quick or mobile, nor creative or imaginative in his play and at times lacks initiative.

At Lazio in his first two seasons he held his own albeit without any great high points. He then was not included in Lazio’s plans until, as mentioned, early February 2025 when, due to having only two holding midfielders for three competitions, he was reinstated at least for the league.

On a curious note, he has a twin brother Jakov who plays for Zorja in Ukraine.

Lazio Career

Season	Total Played (Goals)	Serie A	Coppa Italia	Europa League	Conference League
2021-22	37 (1)	29	1	7 (1)	-
2022-23	32 (1)	25 (1)	1	4	2
2023-24	1	-	1	-	-
Total	70 (2)	54 (1)	3	11 (1)	2

Sources

Wikipedia