I would rather have Sule, than Lindelof. That's largely derived from the fact, that if we were to take anybody from Benfica, I'd want that man to be Semedo.
Sule first caught my attention January 2015, as I stumbled across an article regarding the most impressive tackling rates, after monthly checking which players had the most impressive tackling rates in the top 5 European leagues via Squawka. I had seen his name sporadically on Squawka, but it was only then, when I started to take notice, as on the list, he was the front runner.
http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/ed...who-is-the-best-tackler-in-europe-this-season
Hoffenheim isn't one of the teams outside the EPL that I watch. However, every time the Brazil National side play, I make an effort to watch them, the senior team that is, and the Olympic Final was the exception, a game in which Sule represented Germany in the final. He had a very good game.
Given Bailly isn't particularly convincing in the air, I feel its paramount that Bailly's partner is insurmountable in the air. And Sule is seemingly strong in this regard. Additionally, Bailly tends to step out of defence to dive into challenges to prevent attacks before they've even begun, and one thing I noticed from the Brazil game was that Sule was often the last man. In this way, they could compliment each other with Bailly being the aggressor, and Sule being the sweeper, and even more so, considering he statistically wins the vast majority of his tackles, which will prove to be imperative as in a 1v1 situation, there is little margin for error. Furthermore, Hoffenheim and therefore Sule is accustomed to playing in a back three, which could prove to be useful with way we play with A.Valencia (and possibly Semedo in the foreseeable future), who essentially dominates the entirety of the right flank. Much like Maicon for Inter where Zanetti, Samuel and Lucio would shift to a back three giving Maicon the license to maraud forward as a right midfielder. Perhaps we could adopt a similar strategy going forward, given Bailly also has experience playing in a back three, as he did in the AFCON final.