Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell has said that the club decided not to sell a key player in January in order to win the Scottish Premier League.

Lawwell said that a sale could have been made to clear the club’s debt but that the decision had been taken to keep the squad intact in order to give manager Neil Lennon the best chance of trophy success this season.

Celtic released interim figures on Monday that showed the club’s debt had been reduced by £2m to £7m, though profits also decreased.

During the January transfer window, Celtic received enquiries about some of their playing squad, including bids from Southampton for striker Gary Hooper.

Lawwell said that accepting an offer could have cleared the debt entirely in one fell swoop.

“We made a conscious decision to give Neil Lennon the best chance of winning the league this year,” the chief executive told the Scottish Sun.

“That was in consultation with Neil and he’s happy with that.

“We very possibly could have wiped our debt with a sale.”