The move to Villa Park was ultimately unsuccessful. He joined former Partizan teammate Savo Milošević, but Ćurčić struggled to settle in. Playing on £11,000 weekly wages, he made his Villa debut in the Premier League against Derby County on 24 August 1996, going on to appear in 22 league matches for the club during the 1996–97 season mostly deployed in central midfield alongside Mark Draper and Ian Taylor. Still, Ćurčić experienced a hard time holding a regular first team place as his form from his Bolton days was nowhere to be found. Frustrated with the way things were going, in early January 1998, he labeled his move from Bolton to Villa "the biggest mistake I've made in my life" and publicly demanded that he be placed on the transfer list. Although he soon withdrew the request and made up with manager Brian Little followed by a fine performance in the 3–0 FA Cup third round replay win versus Notts County during late January (and scoring his first and what turned out to be only Villa goal in the next round against Derby County), Ćurčić was placed on the transfer list in late February.