In an unusual move, Arsenal loaned two of their under-21 players out to Derby County’s under-21 side on deadline day.

Among a number of deadline-day loans for Arsenal’s academy players, the club announced that Kido Taylor-Hart and Billy Vigar had both joined League One side Derby County until the end of the season.

But interestingly, Derby themselves state that Taylor-Hart and Vigar are joining their under-21 side.

It’s certainly uncommon for clubs to complete loan moves between u21 teams, but there are a number of reasons why this makes sense.

For a start, Taylor-Hart and Vigar have been struggling for minutes with the Arsenal u21s this season, and they’re too old to feature with the u18s.

The two forwards need to play, even if that means playing for another u21 team.

Derby are desperately in need of the help, sitting bottom of the second tier of the Premier League 2 with zero points from 11 games, so it should be easy enough to get games in their team.

The Derby senior squad already has seven loan players, with a maximum of five allowed on each individual matchday, so Vigar and Taylor-Hart wouldn’t be guaranteed a squad spot if they were joining the senior side.

At the same time, if either one of them impresses with the u21s, there’s the potential to step up later. The five loanees can change from game to game.

So whilst this is an unusual move, it offers a pathway to both players.

After a quiet half-season with Arsenal, Vigar and Taylor-Hart can now play regular youth games, with the possibility of first-team football if they do well.