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Aston Villa have been dealt another major blow as Dan Donachie is leaving, BirminghamLive understands.

The well-respected Head of Medicine and Sports Science is currently weighing up an offer from the Premier League and looks set to move.

Donachie is known as the best in the business in what he does and has told Villa he is off.

It will come as a shock to the senior stars who are currently in Portugal on a pre-season training camp, especially as he worked so closely with some of them in recent seasons.

Donachie, a likeable and well-respected member of the backroom team, is the latest in a line of senior figures to leave the club.

Here's his back story:

Aston Villa’s medical chief has some extraordinary methods behind his success.

Dan Donachie, formerly of Everton, runs a business which aims to help professionals and elite athletes maximise their full potential through connecting mind and body.

He launched Embodyism two years ago and uses the multiple skills picked up during his time in the game to boost people’s wellbeing and performance.

His clients include Tennis star Anna Ivanovic, a high profile American sports presenter as well as England stars Leighton Baines and John Stones.

“The underlying message behind what I do is about presence, being fully in the moment and harnessing the full capacity of each life,” said Donachie in an interview.

“Your body picks up so much information that we miss, because we are in our heads, and tapping into this resource creates a fundamental shift in behaviour.

“The idea for Embodyism came to me towards the end of my time at Everton and it is working out well so far, due to the good variety of clients I have.”

Meditation isn’t something often associated with footballers, but Donachie revealed how his father Willie Donachie, who played for Manchester City and Scotland, may have passed the technique on to him.

“My dad used to meditate twice a day in the 1970s, which was quite unusual,” explained Donachie.

“He did it from a young age as a way of dealing with his background. His dad was an alcoholic.

“And he grew up in Glasgow in a one bed apartment with his brothers and sisters after his mum had died when he was only 12.

“His experiences and way of dealing with the world had a big impact on me, as did reading Ghandi’s autobiography while I was living in Manhattan aged 24.”