Manchester City have agreed a deal to bring goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli back to the Etihad Stadium, with reports indicating that the Argentina international has signed a two-year contract after leaving Marseille.
The 34-year-old is set to arrive for £1.7m and will provide cover for Gianluigi Donnarumma following James Trafford's departure to Leeds. Trafford left earlier this week in a deal which could rise to £45m, creating an immediate vacancy in City's senior goalkeeping group.
A return with a very different purpose
Rulli has been on City's books before, although his first spell scarcely registered on the pitch. He spent the 2016-17 season at the club without making a senior appearance, at a time when he was still building a reputation after emerging in Argentina and moving through European football.
This return is therefore not a continuation of an established City career. It is a new role for a far more experienced goalkeeper, one who has played in several major leagues and has collected international honours with Argentina. His route since leaving Manchester has included spells with Real Sociedad, Montpellier, Ajax, Villarreal and Marseille.
The most recognisable moment of that journey came against Manchester opposition. Rulli converted his own spot-kick in Villarreal's Europa League final shootout win over Manchester United in 2021, before saving David de Gea's attempt to settle the contest. It was an extraordinary finale, but it should not obscure the larger reason City appear to have moved for him: an experienced deputy available at a modest price.
Cover rather than a challenge for the number one
The reports are clear that Donnarumma remains City's first-choice goalkeeper. That makes the hierarchy important in assessing the move. Rulli is not arriving as a young successor who needs a pathway to regular league football, nor is the available information suggesting a contest for the starting place.
Instead, City appear to be prioritising certainty behind their number one. A reserve goalkeeper at a club competing across several competitions has to be prepared for long periods without a run of starts, while still being capable of stepping in immediately for cup ties, injuries or suspension. Rulli's age and broad club record suggest he is being recruited to meet that specific demand.
His two-year deal also fits that reading. It offers City continuity in a specialist squad role without making a long-term commitment that would block future planning in the position. For Rulli, it provides another opportunity at a club where his earlier stay produced no first-team minutes, but where the expectations around his status now appear more defined.
Trafford exit shapes the timing
The key context is Trafford's move to Leeds. City have acted quickly to replace a departing goalkeeper rather than allowing the squad to run short in that area. The financial contrast between the two deals is striking: the reported £1.7m outlay for Rulli is small beside the potential value of Trafford's exit.
That does not automatically make Rulli a like-for-like replacement. Trafford and Rulli are at notably different stages of their careers, and the signing looks more like a recalibration of the depth chart than a direct replication of profile. City are exchanging a younger English goalkeeper for a veteran with extensive experience of changing leagues, systems and clubs.
It also leaves a question that the current reports do not answer: whether the club view the arrival as the final goalkeeper business of the window. The immediate requirement has been addressed, but there is no indication yet of how City intend to shape the position beyond the two-year term offered to Rulli.
International experience adds reassurance
Rulli has won eight Argentina caps and was part of the squads that lifted the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Copa America. Squad membership is not the same as being Argentina's leading goalkeeper, but it adds to the evidence of a player accustomed to elite-level environments.
For City, that background may matter as much as any single match or highlight. An understudy must accept a supporting role, communicate effectively with the defence and remain ready despite uncertain minutes. The club's reported choice suggests they believe Rulli's varied career has equipped him for those demands.
The transfer also gives Rulli an unusual chance to close a circle. A decade after arriving at City without playing a competitive first-team game, he is heading back with a clearer purpose: to support Donnarumma and ensure the champions have seasoned cover in one of the squad's most specialised positions.