Manchester City Signs World Cup Winner Rulli as Backup to Donnarumma
Manchester City have moved with typical ruthlessness in the goalkeeping market, striking a €2m (£1.7m) deal for Geronimo Rulli to step in as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s new understudy.
James Trafford’s £40m switch to Leeds left a vacancy on the bench, but not for long. City identified Rulli, moved, and closed. No fuss, no drama, just a World Cup-winning goalkeeper arriving for a fraction of the fee they banked for Trafford.
The 34-year-old will sign a two-year contract at the Etihad Stadium and joins from Marseille, where he has spent the last two seasons as the French club’s first-choice keeper. He trades the south coast for a second crack at Manchester, though his first spell barely left a footprint.
Back in 2016, City signed Rulli, parked him at Real Sociedad on loan and then watched the Spanish club buy him outright before he ever pulled on a City shirt in a competitive game. Eight years on, he returns as a very different figure: older, decorated, and steeped in big nights.
His career path has rarely been straightforward. Real Sociedad gave him a platform, Montpellier and Ajax added new chapters, but it was Villarreal that delivered his defining moment. In the 2021 Europa League final against Manchester United, Rulli stood at the centre of one of the competition’s most surreal shootouts, both scoring and then saving a penalty to secure the trophy for the Spanish side.
That nerve has carried onto the international stage. Rulli is an Argentina international, a World Cup winner in 2022 and a runner-up this summer. He did not play a single minute at either tournament, yet he has lived inside dressing rooms shaped by Lionel Messi, high stakes and unforgiving standards. City value that experience as much as his shot-stopping.
For Pep Guardiola, the logic is clear. Donnarumma remains the immovable No 1, but the modern superclub cannot afford uncertainty behind its starter. In Rulli, City get a proven No 1 willing to be a No 2, a goalkeeper who has seen enough of the game to understand the role and still push hard for every minute.
He arrives with unfinished business in Manchester and, this time, a genuine chance to leave a mark.
