Gulacsi, 36 and capped 58 times by Hungary, would provide cover for the expected departure of Arnau Tenas and join Luiz Junior in Villarreal's goalkeeping department. The veteran has spent the last 11 seasons at RB Leipzig, where he featured in the Bundesliga, Champions League and Europa League, as well as winning the German Cup in 2021-22 and helping the club reach the Champions League semi-finals in 2019-20.
Before his move to Germany, Gulacsi spent two seasons at Red Bull Salzburg, winning two league titles and two domestic cups. He also spent time on the books at Liverpool earlier in his career, though he never made a competitive appearance for the club's first team.
Villarreal began pre-season with three goalkeepers on their books, but the picture has since shifted: Diego Conde has joined Real Betis on loan, while Tenas also looks set to depart and was already missing from the squad for the club's opening pre-season friendly against Benfica. Gulacsi's arrival would fill the vacancy left by Tenas' expected exit, giving the Yellow Submarine fresh experience between the posts as they prepare for the new campaign.
Gulacsi's career took an unusual early path before he established himself as one of the Bundesliga's most reliable goalkeepers. Signed by Liverpool as a teenager in 2008, he never made a first-team appearance for the Reds, instead gaining experience through loan spells at Hereford United, Tranmere Rovers and Hull City before leaving for Austria in 2013.
Since establishing himself at Leipzig, he has gone on to captain the club, saving two penalties in the 2022 DFB-Pokal final shootout victory over Freiburg before a serious knee injury sustained against Celtic in the Champions League that October kept him out for the best part of a year.
Should the move to Villarreal go through, it would mark a fresh chapter in Spain for a goalkeeper who has spent the vast majority of his senior career in Germany and Austria.