Geronimo Rulli Returns to Manchester City in £1.7m Deal

Manchester City have brought Geronimo Rulli back to the Etihad, sealing a £1.7m move for the Argentina goalkeeper from Marseille on a two-year contract.

Eight years after his first spell at City – a curious stint in 2016-17 when he failed to make a single first-team appearance – Rulli finally arrives as something more than a name on a squad list. This time he comes as a World Cup winner, a Copa America champion and a goalkeeper with one of European football’s most dramatic penalty shootouts on his CV.

Rulli, now 34, carved his place in continental folklore with Villarreal in the 2021 Europa League final. Under the lights in Gdańsk, he stepped up in the shootout against Manchester United, buried his own spot-kick, then denied David de Gea to clinch the trophy in a marathon sequence of penalties that seemed to stretch deep into the night. One kick to score, one save to win it. The kind of moment that follows a player for the rest of his career.

His journey back to Manchester has taken him across Europe. Rulli has guarded nets at Real Sociedad, Montpellier, Ajax and Villarreal, adding layers of experience in Spain, France and the Netherlands before his latest stop at Marseille. Along the way he collected eight caps for Argentina and a place in two historic squads, backing up his compatriots as Lionel Scaloni’s side lifted the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Copa America.

City now inherit that seasoned profile. He arrives as a goalkeeper who has seen pressure at its fiercest and come through it with silverware in his hands.

The first time Rulli walked through the doors at the Etihad, he never got close to the pitch. The second time, he arrives with medals, memories and a reputation forged in finals. What role he carves out in this Manchester City side will be decided in the months ahead, but one thing is clear: this is no longer a keeper content to watch from the sidelines.