Manchester City Signs Geronimo Rulli for €2m as Donnarumma's Deputy

Manchester City have turned to a familiar name to solve their goalkeeping puzzle, agreeing a €2m (£1.7m) deal to sign Geronimo Rulli from Marseille as understudy to Gianluigi Donnarumma.

James Trafford’s £40m move to Leeds left a vacancy on the bench, but City have not allowed it to linger. They have moved fast, gone experienced and, intriguingly, gone back to a player who has technically been theirs before.

Rulli will sign a two-year contract at the Etihad Stadium after two seasons as Marseille’s first-choice goalkeeper. At 34, he arrives not as a prospect, but as a specialist: a seasoned No 2 who knows how to live in the shadows of star names and still be ready when the lights hit.

This is, officially, his second spell on City’s books. The first barely existed in practical terms. In 2016 he was signed, immediately loaned to Real Sociedad, and then sold permanently to the Spanish club without making a single appearance for City. His name was on the paperwork, never on the teamsheet.

Since then, his career has looped across Europe. At Real Sociedad he established himself in La Liga. At Montpellier and Ajax he added different styles, different pressures, different dressing rooms to his catalogue of experience.

His defining club moment, though, came with Villarreal. In the 2021 Europa League final against Manchester United, Rulli stepped into football folklore. The shootout stretched into sudden death. He scored his own penalty, then saved the decisive kick to deliver the trophy to Villarreal. A goalkeeper deciding a European final at both ends of the pitch – that sort of memory does not fade in a recruitment department.

On the international stage, his medal collection outstrips his minutes. Rulli was part of Argentina’s World Cup‑winning squad in 2022 and returned this summer as a runner-up on the global stage, yet he did not play a single minute in either tournament. He knows the role: high stakes, limited chances, total professionalism.

That profile suits City’s needs now. Donnarumma is the undisputed No 1. Behind him, Pep Guardiola requires reliability, calm, and someone who can step into Champions League or Premier League action at a moment’s notice without the occasion swallowing him whole.

Rulli brings that, along with a sense of unfinished business in Manchester. He once slipped through City’s fingers without pulling on the shirt. This time, he arrives to wear it, fully aware that his biggest saves may come after long stretches of silence.