Most managers make zero token offers. Take into consideration that this user might be much lower in the levels than you as the player is 1 star to you while for him it is 5 stars, and hence players might not be that scarce at his level. You could have accepted that one token offer as a better offer might not come later. If I were to bid for the player, I would have offered 2 tokens max to the manager, that is around 10-11 tokens in total for the negotiation. Asking for 5 tokens will double the negotiation price in terms of tokens (17-20 tokens); this might discourage the bidder as for him it is big jump from his initial offer (for you it is from 1 to 5, but for him it will be from 10 to 18, maybe more). But, if he really wants the player and has no other option right now, and he has the required amount of tokens, it is likely that he will accept.