Valencia sporting director Javier Subirats insists Javi Gracia should stay away from his former Watford players.
With Gracia in charge during the 2018/19 season, the Hornets avoided relegation and made the FA Cup final for the first time in 35 years.
The Spaniard was sacked just four games into the following season, but Watford were still unable to evade the drop.
Gracia has since signed a two-year contract with Valencia and has reportedly eyed a number of former Watford players.
Etienne Capoue has handed in a transfer request to leave Vicarage Road, according to the Hertfordshire Mercury, and has been linked with the La Liga club.
Former Barcelona winger Gerard Deulofeu has also been mentioned as a possible target for Gracia, but Subirats believes both players would not make a difference at Mestalla.
"I don't think that these players from Watford are going make a really big difference for Valencia CF," former Los Che star and director Subirats told Tribalfootball.com.
"They are good players but they would have not been chosen to play for Valencia when they had a stronger squad and I don't think they would have been chosen to make Valencia CF grow as a team.
"In the present tense, I don't think they are good enough to be make an important difference to the club now."
Prior to taking charge of Watford, Gracia managed in his homeland with Osasuna, Malaga and Almeria.
The former Real Sociedad midfielder has had his work cut out for him with Valencia as a number of senior players have been sold to reduce costs.
Los Che have won just one in their first three La Liga games, and Subirats thinks it is a 'big step' for a manager of Gracia's experience.
He added: "My opinion is that it's a great opportunity for Javi Gracia. Both in Spain and abroad, he has already demonstrated his capability as a manager with other football clubs.
"However, it is clear that managing Valencia CF is a very big step up and a very important one too.
"Perhaps he has arrived at a time when the situation with the squad is a bit complicated. He is going to have some problems to make it an effective season.
"However, it's a very important challenge for Javi Gracia. Managing Valencia CF is a really attractive goal for any football manager worth their salt."
