Goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli looks to have joined Real Sociedad on loan via Manchester City, according to a statement on the Spanish club’s website. The keeper has been on the radar of both teams all summer, but now appear to have worked out an agreement for him.
In the deal, Rulli first moves to Manchester from Deportivo Maldonado, then immediately goes on loan to Sociedad until the end of the year. When his loan spell ends, he’ll join them on a permanent basis until the summer of 2022.
There were rumours that this sort of deal would be completed for the keeper, but the Blues would have buyback options for him in each of 2017 and 2018, should they be happy enough with his progress in La Liga. The 24-year-old has already had a lot of experience in Spain, playing 58 times for Sociedad in loan spells during the last two seasons.
This was the reason why the Spanish club wanted to complete a permanent deal for the Argentine, but faced a stern challenge from a City side keen to bring him in as a backup keeper with Pep Guardiola now at the helm. If the details of the transfer are as believed, then City still have the option of bringing Rulli in at some point in the future, but he can continue to develop in Spain in the meantime.
If this counts as a signing for Manchester City, Rulli becomes their eighth purchase of the summer, following Ilkay Gundogan, Aaron Mooy, Nolito, Leroy Sane, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus and Marlos Moreno into the club, even if he isn’t sticking around for as long as the majority of those players are.
UPDATE: Mundo Deportivo are reporting that City have a buyback option for £12 million, which is valid until 2018.
