Olivier Giroud has revealed that he took contemporary dance classes when he was younger and believes they could have helped him score that scorpion kick against Crystal Palace.

Giroud believes his ability to net the scorpion kick that won him the Puskas Prize for 2017 might be partly down to the fact he took contemporary dance classes when he was training to become a sports teacher.

“I’m going to be roasted for this,” Giroud laughed. “It was very odd, it was not where I was most comfortable, it was part of the program to become a sports teacher, but our teacher considered this dance as art.

“And this gesture (the scorpion kick) could have been part of a choreography of my dance teacher of the time.”

The striker’s overhead goal against the Eagles in January was voted the best of the year for obvious reasons. It was pretty spectacular and required a massive amount of coordination, as well as awareness.

The France international has proven his killer instinct in front of goal before. His brace against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup in February 2015 was superb. However, that scorpion kick was something else.

This season, Giroud hasn’t been as clinical. In fact, the 31-year-old has only scored once in the Premier League and that was during the opening clash of the campaign against Leicester.

Other than that, he’s netted two in the Europa League, one of which – his 100th in red and white – was a penalty. To be fair, his goal against Red Star Belgrade was pretty spectacular as it was similar to his scorpion kick but that doesn’t detract from his low tally this term.

At least he’s got that career as a dancer to fall back on…