Blues closing on Marseille keeper
Manchester City are in advanced talks with Marseille over a fee for goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli, with the two clubs expected to reach an agreement in the near future. A report from France indicates that the 34-year-old Argentina international has become City's preferred option to fill the backup goalkeeper role left vacant by James Trafford's move to Leeds United earlier in the summer.
Rulli wants the move. That much appears clear from the report, and it gives City a useful edge as the two clubs haggle over money.
The figures involved are hardly eye-watering. City's offer stands at around two million euros, while Marseille are seeking approximately three and a half million euros for their goalkeeper. The gap of approximately one and a half million euros between the two positions is modest in the context of the overall deal, and there is a sense that a compromise should not prove too difficult to find.
History at the club
There is a familiar thread here. Rulli previously held a registration with Manchester City during the 2016-17 season, spending that period on loan at Real Sociedad before ultimately departing permanently to the Spanish club. He has been Marseille's first choice since joining from Ajax in August 2024, and his contract at the Stade Vélodrome runs until June 2027.
City need this sorted promptly. The opening pre-season fixture against Inter Milan is set for 1 August, and the goalkeeping picture behind the first choice remains unsettled.
Oliver Whatmuff has already departed for his season-long loan at Stockport County, while Max Chabot is on tour in Asia as an academy trialist. That leaves the squad thin in that department, and the arrival of a senior option like Rulli would offer some much-needed stability.
Whether the fee gap can be bridged before the Inter game is the question. Both sides know what they want, and the player has made his feelings clear. Sometimes these things just need a nudge.