But it's unlikely he will be followed into the club by Wolves striker Henri Camara who it appears has priced himself out of a move.
His wage demands go way beyond the budget and the deal has collapsed despite Latics seeing a big cash bid accepted by the Molineux outfit.
Francis' impending arrival, though, is a major boost and he will become Paul Jewell's fifth summer signing.
The 26-year-old was at the JJB for talks on Monday before returning to Norwich yesterday to sort out a settlement with the Canaries.
Jewell told the Evening Post: "Damien has agreed to come, he'll have bits and pieces of his medical today and hopefully we can get the deal done.
"I met the lad on Monday to discuss terms and his agent rang me last night to say he is coming.
"It's another signing, another quality player to add to the group, and slowly and surely we're getting there.
"If we can get another centre-back in because Emerson Thome is injured, and maybe another striker, I would be quite satisfied."
Jewell would have been able to tick a striker off his shopping list had Camara been persuaded to come.
It's understood Latics offered more than £3m for him late last week, a bid which was accepted by Wolves.
But at a weekend meeting with the Senegal international's agent, it quickly became clear the parties were poles apart on personal terms.
Asked whether there was a chance of the transfer being resurrected, Jewell said: "No, not at those figures."
Camara, 28, is on the transfer list at Wolves having spent last season on loan at Celtic and then Southampton.
A record £1.5m loan fee was paid by Celtic for his services in the first half of last term, before he made the switch to Southampton.
He's keen to return to the Premiership and Latics believed they would be able to cut a deal for him to achieve that.
Some of the pressure to land a new striker was eased last night by Nathan Ellington's return to action, three months after undergoing surgery on a shoulder injury.
He played half an hour of the friendly at Morecambe, coming off the bench to score Latics' 77th-minute winner.
The Duke will also play part of this evening's clash at Accrington Stanley and then against Boavista on Saturday in the hope of regaining full fitness ahead of the Chelsea game.
Jewell said: "It was nice for him to get half an hour and even nicer for his confidence to get a goal.
"The first contact he had in training since the operation was on Monday and we've had to wrap him in cotton wool.
"You could tell when he came on last night how enthusiastic he was.
"While all the lads have been playing football, Duke has been watching through gritted teeth from the sidelines.
"This will have done him the world of good, although it's early days yet.
"He is behind the others because he wasn't able to train fully until Monday.
"There is running and being fit, and then there is being match-fit.
"Fortunately he has done a lot of fitness work and the only thing he hasn't been able to do is the football side.
"He's probably done more running than most, but any footballer will tell you there is nothing like playing a match to test your fitness."
Jason Roberts, Andreas Johansson and Graham Kavanagh all picked up knocks last night, although Jewell reported none of the injuries were serious.