Early career Bastians began his career with
SG Wattenscheid 09 and
VfL Bochum before moving to
Borussia Dortmund. In November 2003 at 15 years old he signed for English club
Nottingham Forest.
England Bastians spent most of his time in England on the bench. He played as a defensive midfielder in the earlier stages of his career, always managing to get up for corners and head the ball goalways. Forest boss
Colin Calderwood named him as an upcoming talent and already a huge asset to the club. He had a successful debut, assisting a goal in Forest's 3–2 defeat against
Woking in the
Football League Trophy in November 2005. He joined
Northwich Victoria on loan from
Nottingham Forest in November 2006, scoring once in four appearances. He then joined
Gillingham on 22 March 2007 on a loan until the end of the 2006–07 season. He made his Gillingham debut in the 5–0 away defeat to
Carlisle United on 24 March 2007 and scored his first goal in a 3–2 away defeat to
Rotherham United on 7 April 2007. Bastians was part of the successful Forest reserve side who won the Pontins Holiday League Championship title for the 2006–07 season, beating
Rotherham 2–0 in the play-off final, Bastians scored a number of goals throughout the season to help his side lift the title. He joined
Chesterfield on a month's loan in October 2007. He impressed in his spell at Chesterfield, scoring one goal in thirteen appearances. His loan spell there ended on 2 January 2008. Bastians signed for
Notts County two days later on a month's loan. On 14 February 2008, he joined another
League Two club,
MK Dons, once again on a month's loan. He later returned to The Reds, but failed to earn himself a new deal at the club and was released by mutual consent by manager
Colin Calderwood on 21 May 2008. Bastians ended his forest career having played 33 games and scoring five goals in the process. He is the third youngest player ever to play for Forest, behind
Gary Mills and
Craig Westcarr.
Young Boys Bern Bastians moved to
Swiss Super League side
Young Boys Bern in 2008. On 10 August 2008, he scored his first goal for his new team, the equaliser in a 2–1 win against
Neuchâtel Xamax in front of over 16,000 supporters at the
Stade de Suisse in
Bern.
SC Freiburg After just one year with
Young Boys Bern he left on 7 July 2009 in order to transfer to
SC Freiburg. At Freiburg, Bastians swapped his position from a
winger to a defender, being mainly used as a centre back alongside
Pavel Krmaš.
Hertha BSC On 28 January 2012, Bastians completed a move to
Hertha BSC which would see him there until the summer of 2016.
VfL Bochum In June 2013, he was loaned out to
Bochum. After the loan spell, Bastians returned to
Hertha Berlin. On 9 October 2014, Hertha
released him. On 17 November 2014, VfL Bochum announced the signing of Bastians starting 1 January 2015.
Tianjin Teda In January 2018 he moved to
Tianjin Teda in the
Chinese Super League who, managed by countryman
Uli Stielike whose daughter is reportedly married to Bastian's brother, paid around €1 million for his services.
Rot-Weiss Essen On 9 November 2023, Bastians's contract with
Rot-Weiss Essen was terminated by mutual consent. He decided to retire from playing shortly thereafter. ==International career==