Manchester City Reunites with Europa League Hero Geronimo Rulli

Manchester City have turned to a familiar face for their goalkeeping ranks, striking a £1.7m deal to bring Argentina international Geronimo Rulli back to the Etihad Stadium from Marseille.

The move reunites the 34-year-old with City eight years after his first spell at the club, a curious stint in 2016-17 when he never made a first-team appearance. Then, he was a name on a teamsheet and a prospect on the books. Now, he arrives as a decorated veteran with medals, scars and stories.

From nearly man to serial winner

Rulli’s career since that quiet Manchester chapter has been anything but anonymous. He built his reputation across Europe with Real Sociedad, Montpellier and Ajax, but his defining moment came in yellow, not sky blue.

In Gdansk in 2021, the Villarreal goalkeeper stepped up from 12 yards in the Europa League final against Manchester United and buried his penalty with the conviction of a centre-forward. Then came the twist: he denied David de Gea at the other end to seal an epic shootout and deliver Villarreal one of the most famous nights in their history. A goalkeeper who scores the winner, then saves the decider – that kind of drama follows a player for the rest of his career.

That big-game nerve helped him into the Argentina setup, where competition is unforgiving and standards are brutal. Rulli has earned eight caps and, crucially, a place in two of the most coveted dressing rooms in international football history: he was part of the squads that lifted the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Copa America. He has not been the headline act for his country, but he has lived every pressure moment from inside the camp.

A different role at a different Etihad

This time, City are not signing an unknown. They are bringing in a seasoned professional on a two-year deal, a goalkeeper who has seen title races, European nights and international finals up close.

The fee tells its own story. At £1.7m, this is not a marquee statement but a calculated move: experience, depth and reliability at a fraction of the cost of a rising star. City know exactly what they are buying – a goalkeeper comfortable in Europe’s major leagues, familiar with the demands of elite clubs and unflustered by the spotlight.

Rulli will walk back into the Etihad as a World Cup and Copa America winner, a Europa League hero and a far more complete goalkeeper than the one who left without a single appearance to his name. The question now is simple: in a squad built to compete on every front, how big a role will he carve out in his second life in Manchester?