Rulli Returns to Manchester City: World Champion Keeper for £1.7m

Manchester City have turned to a familiar name to strengthen their goalkeeping department, striking a £1.7m deal to bring Argentina international Geronimo Rulli back to the Etihad Stadium.

Eight years after his first, fleeting spell at the club, the 34-year-old returns on a two-year contract. Last time, in 2016-17, he never made a first-team appearance. This time, he arrives with a heavyweight CV and the medals to match.

From nearly man to serial winner

Back then, Rulli was a prospect on the European circuit. Now he comes back as a World Cup winner, a Copa America champion and a goalkeeper with a defining moment etched into European football history.

His most famous night came in the 2021 Europa League final with Villarreal. Under the lights, in a shootout that seemed to stretch into eternity against Manchester United, Rulli stepped up from 12 yards and buried his penalty. Then, with the pressure at its peak, he denied David de Gea to seal the trophy. One kick to score, one save to win it. A goalkeeper’s double that instantly became folklore.

Those nerves of steel have been tested on the biggest international stages as well. Rulli has collected eight caps for Argentina and was part of the squads that lifted the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Copa America, training daily in the furnace of elite competition, ready when called.

A career built across Europe

Rulli’s journey to this second City chapter has taken him around the continent. He has guarded nets in La Liga with Real Sociedad and Villarreal, tested himself in Ligue 1 with Montpellier, and sampled life in the Eredivisie with Ajax. Different leagues, different demands, the same calm presence.

That breadth of experience is exactly what City are buying now: a goalkeeper who has seen almost everything the European game can throw at him, who understands the rhythms of knockout football and the grind of long seasons.

He won’t arrive as an unknown this time. He walks back through the Etihad doors as a proven winner, a specialist in high-pressure moments, and a seasoned voice in the dressing room.

For a club chasing trophies on every front, those are the margins that can decide a season.