Manchester City Signs Geronimo Rulli in £1.7m Deal

Manchester City have completed a £1.7m move for Argentina goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli from Marseille, bringing the veteran back to the Etihad Stadium eight years after his first, fleeting spell.

This time, he is not expected to be a ghost on the teamsheet.

The 34-year-old has signed a two-year contract, returning to a club where he spent the 2016-17 season without making a single first-team appearance. Back then, he was a name on the squad list, a player parked on the books in a complex web of ownership and loans.

Now he arrives as a World Cup winner, a Europa League hero and a goalkeeper with scars and medals from almost every corner of European football.

Rulli’s reputation was forged in one unforgettable night in Gdansk in 2021. Wearing Villarreal colours in the Europa League final against Manchester United, he stepped up in the shootout, smashed his penalty past David de Gea, then turned executioner, diving to save the United goalkeeper’s effort to seal the trophy. One kick, one save, and a career-defining image.

That moment pushed him firmly into the European spotlight. His journey, though, had already taken in Real Sociedad, where he built his name in La Liga, and later Montpellier and Ajax, before his most recent stop at Marseille. Each move added a layer of experience; each league a different demand on his game.

On the international stage, Rulli has had to live in the shadows of bigger names, but his CV is decorated. He has eight caps for Argentina and was part of the squads that lifted the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Copa America, training every day in a goalkeepers’ union that helped deliver the country’s golden era.

City’s decision to move for him at this stage of his career is no romantic gesture. For £1.7m, they secure a seasoned, battle-tested goalkeeper who understands the European stage, the pressure of finals and the demands of elite dressing rooms.

He returns to Manchester a very different player from the one who left without a trace on the pitch. The question now is simple: will this second act finally give Geronimo Rulli the Etihad moments his career deserves?