Newcastle United are sweating over the transfer plans of Manchester City after joining the race to sign Real Sociedad keeper Gerónimo Rulli, according to Mundo Deportivo.
The Spanish newspaper claim that City have a £12.2million option to re-sign Rulli, 26, by 30 June after selling him to the La Liga club in January of last year.
Mundo Deportivo report that Newcastle are keen to sign the Argentine and that their operation to do so is not linked to Sociedad’s pursuit of midfielder Mikel Merino.
OPINION
Rulli has come on in leaps and bounds since being sold by City 18 months ago. He never played a game for the Premier League champions after being loaned out immediately upon signing for £4million in the summer of 2016 before completing a permanent move to Sociedad six months later. City are well stocked in the goalkeeper department with Ederson established as the number one and Claudio Bravo as his deputy, but there is speculation the Chilean will end his two-year stay this summer. Can City take advantage of their option to push through a deal within the next fortnight? That is possible, but unlikely. Newcastle’s interest is intriguing, given that they have just signed Martin Dubravka after his impressive loan and also have Rob Elliot, Karl Darlow and Freddie Woodman on their books, not to mention Matz Sels (although he is set to join Anderlecht permanently). Perhaps the Magpies are looking to sell Elliot and Darlow, or one of them, and have a long-term plan in place for Rulli, who established himself as the Sociedad number one last season and has developed into a fine keeper.
