Manuel Verhage

The move that opened the door came in the summer of 2025. Released as a free agent by Union Saint-Gilloise, where three years in the academy had led as far as the U23 side in the 1. Division Amateurs, Verhage signed for RWDM Brussels — the club whose youth ranks they had left in 2022 — and was handed a professional debut that September.

What followed was a full season of senior football rather than a handful of substitute appearances: 25 matches in the Challenger Pro League, and a goal from the centre of defence. That run of games was enough to draw interest from abroad. In July 2026 Verhage moved to LASK Linz on a contract running until 2030, with the fee left undisclosed.

The international side of the story runs along two lines. Holding both Belgian and Congolese nationality, Verhage won three caps for Belgium U18 during 2026 and five for the DR Congo U23 team, the latter including the Tournoi Maurice Revello in May and June of the same year.

The earlier stages were local ones. Verhage started at Sporting Eizeringen in 2013 and spent two years at VC Groot Dilbeek before joining RWDM in 2016, staying six years. The switch to Union Saint-Gilloise in 2022 was the first move away from the clubs of that immediate area, and the return to Brussels three years later closed a loop.