Manchester City have completed the signing of Geronimo Rulli from Marseille on a two-year deal, bringing in the 34-year-old goalkeeper as backup to Gianluigi Donnarumma. The move also fills the gap left by James Trafford, who has joined Leeds in a deal worth up to £45m.
The timing matters because City have settled their goalkeeping picture now, not later, and Rulli’s role is already defined. He is arriving as the understudy to Donnarumma, with no ambiguity about where he fits in the squad or why the club wanted him in place before the season moves on.
Sport previously reported that City paid £1.7m for the transfer, a modest fee for a goalkeeper who has seen the top end of the game from several angles. Rulli has won eight caps for Argentina, was part of the squad that lifted the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Copa America, and was also in the side that reached the 2026 World Cup final. He has had spells at Real Sociedad, Montpellier and Ajax, and he knows the European stage well through the Champions League and Europa League.
There is also a neat loop in the move. Rulli is returning to Etihad Stadium after spending the 2016-17 season there without making a first-team appearance, a stay that ended without a competitive outing but still left him with a second chance at the same ground. This time, he arrives with a defined job and a clear place in the squad rather than as a name waiting for an opening.
Rulli said the chance to join Manchester City was one he had to seize and described the club as an impressive one with high standards. He said every professional wants to be in a high-performance environment and that he cannot wait to get started because he wants to improve and learn. That is the point of this signing: City have not simply added another goalkeeper, they have brought in one who believes the platform itself will sharpen him while Donnarumma holds the number-one spot.
For City, the answer to the Trafford departure is immediate. For Rulli, the next step is less about waiting for a starting place than about making himself useful in a role that demands calm, readiness and patience behind a first-choice keeper. If he settles quickly, the club’s backup plan suddenly looks like a very experienced one.
