2009–10 season

Following the 2008–09 season, constant media speculation occurred in numerous countries regarding Hazard's availability on the transfer market. Despite Lille chairman Michel Seydoux declaring the player off limits and Hazard stating that he wanted to remain at the club for at least another season, several clubs declared interest in the player.^[55][56] These included English clubs Arsenal and Manchester United, Italian club Internazionale, and Spanish clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid. French football legend Zinedine Zidane personally recommended the player to the latter club.^{[57][58][59][60][61]}
Hazard began the 2009–10 season on a positive note scoring in Lille's first competitive match of the season. The goal, contributing to the team's 2–0 victory, came against Serbian club FK Sevojno in the first leg of the club's third qualifying round match in the UEFA Europa League.^[62] On 27 August, he scored his second career European goal in the club's second leg tie in the playoff round against Belgian club Genk. It was Lille's final goal in the club's 4–2 victory.^[63] The 6–3 aggregate scoreline assured the club progression to the Europa League group stage.
On 22 October, Hazard scored a goal in Lille's important 3–0 victory over Italian club Genoa in the 84th minute after entering as a substitute 10 minutes prior. Upon receiving the ball on the left wing, Hazard proceeded to dash through the midfield dribbling past six Genoa defenders before finishing at the 18-yard box.^[64][65] A month later, Hazard was instrumental in Lille's 5–1 thrashing of Czech club Slavia Prague as he was partly responsible for the opening goal — slicing through the defense and delivering a cross near post, which went off Slavia player Marek Suchý resulting in an own goal.^[66]
On 20 December, Hazard scored his first league goal of the season in the club's 3–0 win over Le Mans. He also provided both the assists on the other two goals.^[67] On 30 January, Hazard scored the only goal in Lille's win over Derby du Nord rivals Lens.^[68] The victory helped the club achieve stability in the league by keeping them in the UEFA Champions League places. It also ended a disaster of a week which saw Lille suffer elimination from both of France's cup competitions. Five days later, Hazard and Lille reached an agreement on a contract extension, which will keep the player at the club until 2014.^[69][70] On 11 March, Hazard scored the only goal in Lille's victory over English club Liverpool in the first leg of the club's UEFA Europa League tie converting a free kick in the 83rd minute.^[71] Three weeks later, Hazard provided two assists in the club's 4–1 win over fellow title contenders Montpellier.^[72] The two passes brought his league tally to seven, tied for second in the league. For his impressive displays in the month of March, Hazard was given the UNFP Player of the Month award.^[73]
On 29 April, Hazard was nominated for the UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Year award. He was also nominated, for the second consecutive season, for the Young Player of the Year award.^[74] On 9 May, Hazard was awarded the UNFP Young Player of the Year trophy for the second consecutive season. He became the first player since its inception in 1994 to win the award twice.^[14] Hazard lost out on the Player of the Year award, which was awarded to Lyon striker Lisandro López