Manchester City Signs Gerónimo Rulli to Replace Trafford

Manchester City have dipped back into their past to solve a present problem, agreeing a €2m deal with Marseille to bring Gerónimo Rulli back to the club as replacement for the departed James Trafford, according to The Athletic.

Eight years after first signing for City in 2016 from Deportivo Maldonado — and leaving again without a single senior appearance — the 34-year-old Argentina international is finally set to pull on the gloves for the Premier League champions in earnest. This time, the role is clear: experienced deputy, trusted with the ball at his feet and with the temperament to sit in the shadows until called.

Trafford out, Rulli in

Trafford’s exit to Leeds United for £45m created the gap. He chose Elland Road for what City could not guarantee him: a regular Premier League starting berth. His path at the Etihad narrowed sharply when Gianluigi Donnarumma arrived last summer, pushing the Englishman down the pecking order despite his role in helping City lift both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

City’s response has been cold, calculated and typically efficient. Rather than chase another expensive prospect, they have moved for a low-cost, high-experience solution. Rulli fits the brief. The club hierarchy see him as a composed understudy, comfortable in the build-up and technically secure enough to keep Enzo Maresca’s possession-heavy structure humming whenever Donnarumma is absent.

A champion’s pedigree in reserve

Rulli arrives with far more on his CV than when he first passed through Manchester. He has made 73 appearances for Marseille over the past two seasons and was part of Argentina’s 2026 World Cup squad, bringing a level of pedigree that goes beyond simple squad padding.

He will also step into a familiar environment of sorts. On Maresca’s staff is former City goalkeeper Willy Caballero, now a key voice in the coaching team. Caballero knows exactly what it takes to play the position under the intense scrutiny and technical demands at City, and Rulli will work directly under a man who has stood in that goal and felt that pressure.

The move follows City’s decision to re-sign young goalkeeper Pierce Charles from Sheffield Wednesday before sending him on loan to QPR. With Charles developing elsewhere and Trafford gone, the club have effectively reset their goalkeeping depth chart behind Donnarumma, blending one of the world’s elite with a seasoned, tactically aligned No 2.

Quiet reinforcement amid louder rumours

While Rulli’s arrival is a neat piece of business, the noise around City is louder elsewhere. The Athletic reports that the club are bracing for possible exits, with Rodri linked to Barcelona and interest building in Savinho and Tijjani Reijnders. Those are the kind of names that shake a dressing room and reshape a season.

Against that backdrop, the Rulli deal feels almost understated. Yet these are the signings that often steady a squad: a veteran who knows his role, understands the demands of elite football and can step in without disrupting the structure.

Maresca’s first look

Rulli is due to join up with the squad once they return from their pre-season tour of Hong Kong and South Korea next week. The timing matters. Players who went deep into the World Cup are scheduled to report for their first session under Maresca on Wednesday, with an open training session the following day.

Those days will be precious. Maresca must knit together new ideas, new voices and, potentially, a reshaped core if any of the big names move on. Rulli will drop straight into that tactical crash course, learning the patterns and triggers that define City’s play.

City have bought him to be a safety net, not a headline act. But at a club chasing trophies on every front, the season has a habit of dragging the understudy into the spotlight. The question now is simple: when his moment finally comes at the Etihad, how ready will Gerónimo Rulli be to turn this second chance into something far more substantial than the first?