I understand your confusion. That sentence can indicate either (그 남자를) 좋아하는 사람이 많네 [Many people like this man] or (그 남자는) 좋아하는 사람이 많네 [This man likes many people] Definitely, you can't be sure which one the person meant. Can you describe the dialogue in detail? Might need more context to determine what the person said. However, "Many people like this man" could be a bit more likely, I guess. It depends on exactly what and how you were talking about this man. The context.