Manchester City Sign Gerónimo Rulli for £1.7m

Manchester City have brought Gerónimo Rulli back to the Etihad, completing the signing of the Argentina international goalkeeper from Marseille on a two-year contract.

The 34-year-old has signed a deal running until June 2028, with City paying around £1.7m for the World Cup winner. He will wear the No 28 shirt and arrives as a direct replacement for James Trafford, who left for Leeds earlier this summer.

This is not Rulli’s first taste of Manchester. He was on City’s books in the 2016/17 season, a curious, almost forgotten stint in which he never made a first-team appearance. Back then he was a prospect parked in a wider network of deals. Now he returns as a fully formed veteran.

Since that brief spell, Rulli has built a substantial career across Europe. Real Sociedad, Montpellier, Villarreal, Ajax, Marseille – a tour of top leagues that has hardened his game and given him the kind of big-night experience elite clubs crave.

On the international stage, his CV is even more eye-catching. Rulli has eight caps for Argentina and was part of the squads that lifted both the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Copa América, serving as one of the trusted lieutenants behind Emiliano Martínez.

English fans will remember him best for one night in particular. In 2021, in Gdańsk, Rulli stood at the heart of Villarreal’s Europa League final win over Manchester United, scoring his penalty and then saving David de Gea’s in a remarkable shootout that sealed the trophy.

City now tap into that pedigree for a modest fee, banking on a goalkeeper who has seen almost everything the European game can throw at him – and who finally has the chance to make a first-team mark in Manchester at the second time of asking.