Geronimo Rulli Returns to Manchester City in £1.7m Deal

Manchester City have moved to reinforce their goalkeeping department with a familiar face, agreeing a £1.7m deal to sign Argentina international Geronimo Rulli from Marseille.

The 34-year-old returns to Etihad Stadium on a two-year contract, eight years after his first spell at the club, when he spent the 2016-17 season on the books without making a first-team appearance.

This time, he arrives with a heavyweight résumé.

Rulli etched his name into European folklore in the 2021 Europa League final, when Villarreal went toe to toe with Manchester United in Gdańsk. He stepped up in the shootout, buried his own penalty, then denied David de Gea at the other end to seal the trophy in a dramatic, drawn-out finish that still stings United supporters.

On the international stage, his role has been more understated but no less decorated. Rulli has eight caps for Argentina and was part of the squads that lifted the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Copa America, adding two of the game’s biggest prizes to his collection.

His journey back to Manchester has taken him across the continent. Before Marseille, Rulli built his reputation at Real Sociedad, had a stint at Montpellier and added another chapter at Ajax, collecting experience in La Liga, Ligue 1 and the Eredivisie along the way.

Now he returns to City as a seasoned, battle-tested goalkeeper, no longer the unknown understudy who slipped through a season without a single appearance. At 34, with medals, scars and that unforgettable night against Manchester United behind him, he arrives ready-made for the demands of a squad chasing every trophy in sight.