Generally speaking, if a player has
1. Several 5* players this early in the season
2. Large amounts of cash
3. Impressive trophy case (only can be seen on old version).
If the above is present, You're at risk for bidding against a token buyer.
And as a token buyer, I know before bidding for a player, which players I can run out of tokens and what ones can hang around for awhile if I want a player.
So if going into a bidding war w/o several 5* players this early in the season, you're probably not going to be scaring other managers off...