Manchester City Reunites with Geronimo Rulli as Trafford Replacement

Manchester City have turned to a familiar face to refresh their goalkeeping ranks, striking a £1.7m deal with Marseille for Argentina international Geronimo Rulli.

The 34-year-old returns to Etihad Stadium on a two-year contract, eight years after his first spell at the club in 2016-17, when he failed to make a first-team appearance. Back then he was a prospect parked on the fringes. This time he arrives as a decorated veteran and a World Cup winner.

Rulli steps in after England goalkeeper James Trafford’s departure to Leeds in a move worth up to £45m earlier this week, and will operate as understudy to established number one Gianluigi Donnarumma.

It is a very different Rulli to the one City once signed and never used. His name is etched into European football folklore thanks to Villarreal’s 2021 Europa League final against Manchester United. On that night in Gdansk, he walked up from his own box, buried his penalty, then turned match-winner at the other end by saving from David de Gea to settle an extraordinary shootout.

That moment underlined a career built on nerve and technique as much as shot-stopping. Since leaving City the first time, Rulli has toured Europe with spells at Real Sociedad, Montpellier, Ajax and Villarreal, picking up experience in La Liga, Ligue 1 and the Eredivisie.

At international level he has forced his way into an Argentina squad overflowing with goalkeeping talent, winning eight caps and taking his place in the groups that lifted both the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Copa America.

City now get the benefit of that journey. For a modest fee, they add a goalkeeper who has lived the pressure of finals, handled the expectation of major clubs and shared a dressing room with serial winners.

Rulli once passed through Manchester as a footnote. He returns as a proven champion, tasked with backing up Donnarumma and making sure there is no drop in standards if his number is called.