Donachie is now on leave as Everton finalise his departure
Everton’s director of medical services Danny Donachie has left the club after manager Rafa Benitez ordered a review of the club’s injury record for key players.
According to The Athletic, the manager is thought to have had concerns over injury setbacks to a number of key players such as striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, as well as midfielders Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Andre Gomes, who have both suffered long-term injuries in recent times.
In October, Benitez explained how he was desperate to get better results across every department of the club – with the manager thought to have been concerned about Donachie’s work on the medical side.
Following the review, Donachie is now on leave as Everton finalise the details of his departure from the club.
The worries from the former Real Madrid boss are believed to be heavily influenced by the injury to Calvert-Lewin, who suffered a thigh injury during the Toffees’ 2-0 win away to Brighton & Hove Albion in August.
The England international has missed nine matches thus far as a result of his injury, suffering a recurrence of the problem after a hasty attempt to return to training.
Although it is unclear how long the 24-year-old will be sidelined for, it is hoped that he could be back before the end of the year.
His return to fitness can’t come quick enough for Benitez’s side, who have massively missed the striker who scored three goals in three league games at the start of the season.
Shortly after he was named as Everton’s new manager in the summer, Benitez was quick to appoint Jamie Harley as head of sports science in July.
Harley – who worked with 61-year-old at Newcastle United – was not the only addition in the medical side of his backroom staff, with the former Liverpool boss adding Cristian Fernandez, whom he also worked with at Newcastle, as a fitness rehabilitation coach last month.
The departing Donachie is popular among the Everton players, particularly Yerry Mina, Gomes and Lucas Digne – whom he helped to return from medial and lateral knee ligament ruptures and a double fracture in less than half of the expected recovery time.
Earlier this week, Donachie tweeted an image of himself and Mina, captioned: “Always in my heart.”
Always in my heart ♥️ pic.twitter.com/HiQmylAO4z
— Dan Donachie (@donachie_dan) November 10, 2021
It is believed that there have been additional changes alongside Donachie’s departure, with other medical staff at the club having their roles adjusted and downgraded following Benitez’s review.
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