Radamel Falcao's great-grandfather was a Yorkshireman who emigrated to Colombia and was murdered by thieves, his father told the Daily Mail.
The Manchester United striker, who joined the club on a season-long loan on the final day of the transfer window, has roots less than 100 miles from Old Trafford -- but was denied the British passport that would have allowed him to play for England.
His father, also named Radamel, said: "I'm proud of my English blood. My grandfather was English and also a sportsman."
And when Falcao, who has played for Porto, Atletico Madrid and Monaco, was a teenager, his father tried to get him a British passport as part of a proposed transfer to River Plate.
But his father said: "He was probably about 13 so I went down to the embassy thinking that a British passport would help him with a move to Europe. Unfortunately it got rejected."
George King, Falcao's ancestor and a keen golfer, was an accountant who left England for Colombia in 1932 to work for the United Fruit Company.
He was widowed when his wife died in childbirth and remarried to a Colombian, Juliana, and had five children, including the 60 million-euro footballer's grandmother, Denis.
But King's time in Colombia came to a tragic end when his company was closing down its operations and he was charged with distributing the finances to sort it out.
His daughter Denis said: "They gave him the money to sort out, but as he was leaving he was murdered by people who stole the money."