Manchester City bring back Geronimo Rulli as back-up keeper on two-year deal
Manchester City have signed Argentine goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli from Marseille on a two-year deal, bringing him back to the club where he spent a season nearly a decade ago without ever kicking a ball in anger.
City paid Marseille £1.7m for the 34-year-old, according to BBC Sport. The Athletic had earlier reported the fee as €2million (£1.7m). Either way, it is loose change by City's standards — and it buys a goalkeeper with a habit of turning up when the lights are brightest.
Rulli arrives as a direct replacement for James Trafford, the young England keeper who left for Leeds in a deal worth up to £45m. Trafford's departure left a gap behind City's number one, Gianluigi Donnarumma, and Rulli is the man tasked with filling it.
That back-up role may sound unglamorous, but City need someone reliable for the cups and sharp enough in training to push Donnarumma every day. Rulli fits the profile: experienced, decorated, and unfazed by the big occasion.
He has history with City, though it is a thin chapter. Rulli was on the books at the Etihad during the 2016-17 season — his registration was held by the club while he was loaned out — but he never made a first-team appearance. Now, almost ten years later, he finally gets to wear the shirt in earnest.
His career since then has been a winding one. Stints at Real Sociedad, Montierre, Montpellier, and Ajax took him across Spain, France, and the Netherlands. He won the Europa League with Villarreal in 2021, scoring the decisive penalty in the shootout against Manchester United and then denying David de Gea to settle the final. It is the kind of moment that sticks — a goalkeeper walking up to take a penalty in a European final, then walking back to save one at the other end.
Rulli has won eight caps for Argentina and was part of the squads that lifted the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Copa America. He also reached the 2026 World Cup final with Argentina, the squad announcement for which preceded this move. He is a keeper who has spent years in the company of champions, even if he has rarely been the one lifting the trophy himself.
For City, the deal is low-risk and quietly sensible. They have recouped a significant fee for Trafford and spent a fraction of it on a seasoned deputy. Rulli knows the club, knows the league's demands from afar, and arrives with the kind of big-game nerve that back-up keepers so often lack.
The Premier League season is already under way, and City's squad now has its goalkeeping ranks settled. Donnarumma starts. Rulli waits, trains, and stays ready — exactly what he has been doing for most of a distinguished career.
