Don't get me wrong, he wouldn't have won the award if he wasn't brilliant on the pitch, but I think it's accurate to say that he won it as much for his newfound role as a role model as for his performances. Plenty of journalists, who were the ones voting, said as much.
One of the most bizarre things about Bernardo being overlooked for individual awards is that Portugal won the Nations League and Bernardo was reportedly their best player. By not really recognising that, they're basically devaluing their own tournament, and admitting that it's a glorified friendly, because there's no way that the best player at the European Championship would ever be overlooked. As for the Portugal award, well Bernardo won 3 tournaments with his club compared to 1 for Ronaldo (a trophy that is pretty much guaranteed these days), with Ronaldo having his worst individual goal haul for 10 years. Meanwhile Bernardo was arguably the best player in the Premier League. The fact that most Portugal fans are shocked says it all.