Is your friend the same level manager as you? Remember that if he is a higher level you will see one additional star for each level he is higher than you up to 9 stars.
As an example, if a level 10 manager has a 5 star player another level ten manager will see the player as five stars. A level 11 manager will see the player as four stars. A level 9 manager will see the player as 6 stars. A level 6 or lower manager would permanently see the player as 9 stars. So dependending on how much higher another manager is you cannot see the real quality of his/her players (unless you are in an assoc together). In most cases when we see older players with eight or nine stars it is due to the manager's level not the player actually having that quality.