Manchester City Sign Geronimo Rulli as Deputy to Donnarumma

Manchester City have turned to a familiar name to reinforce the last line of their squad, agreeing a €2m (£1.7m) deal to sign Geronimo Rulli from Marseille as the new deputy to Gianluigi Donnarumma.

The move comes swiftly on the heels of James Trafford’s departure to Leeds, a £40m transfer that left a clear vacancy behind City’s first-choice goalkeeper. City have not allowed that gap to linger. Rulli will arrive on a two-year contract at the Etihad Stadium, a low-cost, high-experience option for a side intent on squeezing every margin in a long season.

This will technically be Rulli’s second spell on City’s books, though the first passed almost unnoticed. Signed in 2016 and immediately loaned to Real Sociedad before the Spanish club bought him outright, he never made a competitive appearance for City. Eight years on, the circumstances are very different. So is the goalkeeper.

Now 34, Rulli comes in off the back of two seasons as Marseille’s regular No 1, adding Ligue 1 to a career that has taken him through Real Sociedad, Montpellier, Ajax and a memorable spell at Villarreal. It was with the Spanish club that he carved out one of the defining moments of his career, and one of the most dramatic finishes in recent European history.

In the 2021 Europa League final against Manchester United, Rulli stepped into the spotlight in the penalty shootout. He not only saved the decisive spot-kick, he scored one himself, sealing Villarreal’s first major European trophy in a surreal, goalkeeper-against-goalkeeper climax. That night in Gdańsk underlined his temperament as much as his technique.

His medal collection has grown since. Rulli is a World Cup winner with Argentina, part of the squad that lifted the trophy in 2022 and returned as runners-up this summer. He did not play a minute in either tournament, but his presence in two consecutive finals speaks to the trust he commands within elite dressing rooms and the depth of competition in the Argentina setup.

For City, the appeal is clear. In Rulli they gain a seasoned, international goalkeeper who understands his role, has worked under intense scrutiny and brings a history of delivering in high-stakes moments. He steps into a squad chasing titles on multiple fronts, where the No 2 must be ready to move from the shadows to the spotlight at a moment’s notice.

Rulli never got the chance to pull on a City shirt the first time. Now he returns older, decorated and battle-tested, tasked with guarding the space behind Donnarumma and keeping one of Europe’s most demanding machines running smoothly.