HITC Sport report that Nottingham Forest youngster Ryan Yates is nearing a deal to join city rivals Notts County on a season-long loan deal. 

The report states that the deal is so close to completion that Yates could be part of former Premier League stalwart Kevin Nolan's squad as Notts County open their League 2 campaign with a visit to recently-relegated Coventry City this weekend.

Although local rivals can be acrimonious, it appears that Nolan and his Forest counterpart Mark Warburton have a healthy working relationship, as Yates is not the first player to cross the city in this summer's transfer window, with midfielder Jorge Grant having already moved across the city and down two divisions to join Nolan's ranks.

Yates, who has predominantly played as a central midfielder, can play a more defensive midfield role, as well as operating from a wider position, either on the right of midfield or even as a right back, on occasion.

The projected loan move is not Yates' first temporary spell away from the City Ground, as he enjoyed two loan spells over the course of last season - the first of which was in the National League with Barrow, where he made 16 league appearances, finding the back of the net once and laying on four assists, before he spent the second half of the season in the third tier, with Shrewsbury Town.

The Verdict:

It is somewhat refreshing to see city rivals put their historical differences aside, in order to broker mutually beneficial deals - a player that Forest were unlikely to use can now get game-time, without having to relocate and deal with the additional problems of settling into a new city.

The example of Grant shows that it is something that Nolan and Warburton are keen to carry on doing and I think that local rivalry should be no barrier to helping young players to develop.

Yates' League 1 experience last season should stand him in good stead in the league below this time around, and he will hope to make a significant contribution to Nolan's bid to enjoy a successful season.

Forest fans - are you happy about loaning players to rivals? Notts County fans - do you want your rivals' cast-offs? Let us know below...