Former West Brom coach links up with World Cup winner at Serie A club
The Spaniard was a member of The Hawthorns coaching staff for more than three years from 2022.
Former Albion coach Damia Abella has taken up a new role on the backroom staff of Italian club Fiorentina.
The 44-year-old spent more than three-and-a-half years on the coaching staff at Albion until his departure this summer.
He initially joined at the end of 2022, shortly into fellow Spaniard Carlos Corberan’s tenure at The Hawthorns.
The Catalan, a former Barcelona academy graduate and player, worked at Watford before his stint at the Baggies. His role at Albion was statistical analyst, where Abella would have responsibilities for several departments, including set-pieces.
He remained with the club despite Corberan’s exit in December 2024 and remained on the staff for another 18 months, under Tony Mowbray, Ryan Mason and Eric Ramsay as well as during James Morrison’s caretaker spell.
He departed this summer, having also achieved his UEFA A Licence coaching badge, the highest available.
And now Abella has a new role - as technical collaborator at Fiorentina.
He will work under head coach Fabio Grosso in Florence, the former left-back who was a World Cup winning hero with Italy in 2006. Grosso scored the winner in the semi-final and the decisive spot-kick in the final against France.
Grosso is newly-appointed at Fiorentina this summer, having previously managed Sassuolo and Lyon among others.
Abella, who was highly-regarded by players and staff at The Hawthorns, said: “There are opportunities that remind you why you chose this path.
“Today starts a very special stage for me, joining the technical body of Fabio Grosso at ACF Fiorentina.
“Thanks to the mister for his trust and to the club for opening the doors to an institution with an extraordinary history. I arrive with the excitement of working with full commitment and to contribute, from my place, to the project and to the team.
“Start of an experience I will always remember.”
The Tuscany outfit are two-time Serie A winners but finished 15th in the Italian top flight last term.