Career
Early career Foreign the 2007-2008 season, he was sent on loan to Dinamo Zagreb"s affiliate Lokomotiva to gain first–team experience at the senior level He played in 28 matches and scored seven goals for Lokomotiva in the Croatian Third League. Dinamo Zagreb At an early age, Badelj was already spotted as possible replacement for Luka Modrić, a key figure in the Dinamo Zagreb"s first-team squad that was moved to Tottenham Hotspur in 2008.
In 2008, Badelj joined the first team and immediately established himself as an important player.
He made his senior debut for Dinamo in Champions League qualifier against Northern Irish club Linfield. He then made his domestic debut in the opening match of the 2008-2009 season against HNK Rijeka, scoring the first goal in 2–0 victory.
Badelj continued to impress at his young age, establishing himself as a first–team regular for the 2009-2010 season. Badelj continued with impressive performances in the 2010-2011 season as well, even wearing the captain"s armband in some matches.
In the 2011-2012 season, Badelj was one of the key players in the Dinamo squad that reached the 2011-2012 Champions League group stage for the first time in 12 years.
He appeared in all six of Dinamo"s group stage games against Real Madrid, Lyon and Ajax. In what would be his final game at the Stadion Maksimir for Dinamo in a Champions League playoff match against Slovenian side NK Maribor, Badelj scored an own goal that gave the opposition an equaliser in the first leg match in Zagreb. The midfielder, however, later scored the winning goal at the other end in the second half.
Hamburger SV Badelj joined Hamburger SV of the German Bundesliga in August 2012 for an undisclosed fee thought to be in the region of €4.5 million, according to the Croatian media.
He made his domestic debut soon after joining the club in match against Werder Bremen. He immediately established himself as the first-team regular starter, typically situated as a deep-lying playmaker.
Badelj scored his first Bundesliga goal against Schalke 04 on November 2012. Fiorentina On 31 August 2014, it was announced that Badelj had signed for Italian Serie A team Fiorentina for a fee believed to be in the region of €5 million.
Badelj earned 63 caps during his time in the Croatian youth ranks, nine of which came in the Union of European Football Associations U21 Championship where he was very impressive.
He was often called up to the first team but usually sat the whole game on the bench. He made his competitive debut in a Union of European Football Associations Euro 2012 qualifier against Malta in which he scored a goal. He was a part of the Croatia team on Euro 2012, being an unused substitute.
He was a part of Croatia national team for the 2014 Fédération internationale de football association World Cup, being selected after Ivan Močinić"s injury and once again, he was an unused substitute in the tournament.
International goal Scores and results list Croatia"s goal tally first. Club Dinamo Zagreb Croatian First League: 2008-2009, 2009-2010, 2010-2011, 2011-2012 Croatian Cup: 2008-2009, 2010-2011, 2011-2012 Croatian Super Cup: 2010 Individual.