A “STUPID and naive” football agent compared to Del Boy Trotter has been found guilty of bribery.

Dax Price, 48, who grew up in Hove, was convicted at Southwark Crown Court on Monday of two counts of paying and facilitating a bribe.

Price, who now lives in Sittingbourne, Kent, broke football rules by acting as a “third party” owner of players in a bid to profit when they were sold on to other clubs.

The jury had deliberated for just under 32 hours before returning their majority verdict on Price.

He was exposed as part of an undercover investigation by Daily Telegraph reporter Claire Newell.

Price was convicted alongside former assistant head coach of Barnsley Football Club Tommy Wright, who was found guilty of accepting a £5,000 bribe to leak commercial information about players.

Fellow football agent Giuseppe Pagliara, 64, of Bury, was also found guilty of two counts of paying and facilitating a bribe.

Price and Pagliara claimed to journalist Ms Newell club managers were “getting backhanders, 100 per cent” to secure lucrative transfer deals.

Prosecutor Brian O’Neill said Price and Pagliara, “explicitly discussed the payment of future sums to Wright”.

Wright did not deny accepting the £5,000.

But he said he had paid tax on it and declared it to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

Lewis Power QC, Wright’s defence, said his motivation for getting involved with Pagliara and Price was to turn Barnsley into a better club.

The court also heard Price and Pagliara made a series of boasts about their links in the footballing world.

Meetings were set up in London with former England manager Steve McClaren, and former manager Harry Redknapp.

Price and Pagliara also made allegations about the behaviour of other prominent footballing figures.

A friend of Price, who gave character evidence for him, said he was “stupid and naive” with “absolutely no business sense whatsoever”.

James Hennessy compared Price to Del Boy from hit TV comedy Only Fools And Horses.

He added: “Dax is never far away from being a millionaire, he was always the next big deal and he always falls flat on his face.”

Price was granted bail on condition he live and sleep each night at his home address, save for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day when he is staying in a hotel with his family.