Steven Fletcher to Marseille: Latest Loan Details, Reaction and More

Scotland international Steven Fletcher has completed a loan move to Olympique Marseille after falling down the pecking order with Sunderland.

Sunderland confirmed the move, noting that the loan will run up until the end of Fletcher's deal with the Black Cats.

The 28-year-old, who had been with the Black Cats since 2012, had seen a sharp decline in playing time since the appointment of new manager Sam Allardyce. With his contract set to expire at the end of the season, Sunderland decided to cash in on the forward while they still could.

Marseille desperately needed some depth in the attacking third, with star forward Michy Batshuayi forced to carry a heavy burden in the first half of the season. Defences have started to key in on the Belgian, and some help was needed.

Few will have expected Fletcher to be the one to make the move to France, and pundits were shocked when they heard the news.

For the Independent's Jack Pitt-Brooke, the deal was undoubtedly the story of transfer deadline day:

DW Sports' Stefan Bienkowski enjoyed the move more than Manchester City's announcement that Pep Guardiola will become their next manager:

It's rare to see a Premier League star make the move to Ligue 1, but Marseille have had success with these kind of deals in the past―Joey Barton's spell with the club was a successful one, for instance.

Wahbi Khazri's arrival at Sunderland means the Black Cats have plenty of attacking depth, so there's little risk involved from their perspective. Fletcher hasn't scored double-digit Premier League goals since his first season with the team, which is yet another reason why the Black Cats likely felt comfortable moving the player.

Marseille have endured an up-and-down 2015-16 campaign so far, and while Fletcher is hardly a world-beater, he has enough quality to make sure defences will no longer be able to focus all of their attention on Batshuayi.

While it's an unexpected and somewhat unusual move, the Scotsman's physicality and smart movement in the attacking third may just be what the French club need.