Geronimo
Rulli (La Plata, Argentina, 1992) has ended his six years as a Real Sociedad player, the last one on loan at French Montpellier. The txuri urdin club and Villarreal reached an agreement on Friday afternoon for the transfer of the Argentine international who, in this way, will play at El Madrigal for the next four seasons. Sign a contract until June 30, 2024. The goalkeeper, after saying goodbye to his teammates in Zubieta, traveled early by road to Castellón accompanied by his agent Kristian
Bereit, today he will exercise with his new teammates and in the next few days he will be presented as a yellow footballer. Although both clubs have been very hermetic when it comes to transcending the figures of the operation, MD has been able to know that the coffers of Anoeta will enter slightly less than the 7 million euros that the txuri urdin entity paid to get in 2016 with the 70% of the federative rights of Rulli, then owned by the Maldonado investment fund.
La Real will also now enter 70% of the price agreed with Villarreal for the transfer of the South American, around 4.9 million euros. The remaining 30% still belongs to Manchester City. When the Gipuzkoan club undertook the purchase of the footballer's property four years ago, it was agreed that each summer thereafter (between 2017 and 2019), the English club could claim a million in exchange for giving up 10% of the goalkeeper's rights , until the Real reached 100%. The City, however, has not claimed in these four years any amount added by Rulli, so that his property continues distributed in the same way between the Real and Manchester. Estudiantes de la Plata, his home club, will also enter part of the operation because the percentage of a future sale was reserved.
Recover all the prestige
Rulli will arrive tremendously motivated at Villarreal, aware that his stage in Donostia had come to an end. His departure last summer to Montpellier was already a bit abrupt, by making it clear Robert
Olabe that he did not count on him and get to have a verbal confrontation on the field of play, so now he knew that there was no room for another assignment that would only prolong a professional relationship in a dead end. The goalkeeper has already spoken personally with Unai
Emery and lands in El Madrigal with the aim of fighting for the position of Sergio
Asenjo, although he knows that it is not easy.
The appearance on the scene of Villarreal, whose first option for the goal was the Granada goalkeeper Rui
Silva, has led the Argentine to rule out the option of playing in England. MD already reported that he was looking for a team in the Premier and Rulli had practically closed an agreement with Everton. The offer of the ‘submarine’, which allows him to continue in the Spanish league and play in Europe, completely changed the course of his career which, at the age of 28, will change the Cantabrian Sea for the Mediterranean. Rulli signing for four seasons, one less than Villarreal intended. Although it is a long contract, the goalkeeper did not want to tie himself with a fifth year in case things do not go as expected in El Madrigal.
The 29-N, in Anoeta
RulliIn this way, he will become a rival of Real for the first time in his career, since the last campaign he played in France. And you won't have to wait too long to visit Anoeta as Real-Villarreal is scheduled for November 29, in the 11th round of the League. It will be the Argentine's return to a stadium in which he became well loved but ended up losing confidence in his performance. The Argentine leaves behind a trajectory of five seasons as txuri urdin, in which he has played 170 games: 149 in the League, 12 in the Cup and 9 in the Europa League. His last official match as txuri urdin was on May 18, 2019 against Espanyol in Cornellà. A week before, Real had beaten Madrid in Anoeta with Rulli under sticks. Without him knowing it, it was his last game with Real against his fans.