Sheffield United had a £1.2m bid turned down by Watford – but Helguson has made it clear he is desperate to play in the Premiership this term.
Wigan boss Paul Jewell is a long-time admirer of the forward who scored 20 goals last season, including four in the last five matches as Watford avoided the drop.
But while Sunderland and Fulham are both keen to sign Helguson, who has enjoyed five years at Vicarage Road, Wigan are ready to outbid both their Premiership rivals as Jewell bids to beef up his attacking options ahead of August's big kick-off.
Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy wants Helguson to partner £1.8m buy Jonathan Stead from Blackburn Rovers, but Helguson appears to favour Wigan now after a further round of discussions with his agent last night.
Jewell watched two Danish League games last weekend and still has Brondy's £5m pair Johan Elmander and Daniel Agger in his sights, but he has made Helguson his number one target.
Wigan chairman Dave Whelan has given Jewell the green light to bring in at least four new faces and Whelan said: "We are going to have to wheel and deal because it is an incredibly short period of time to get players in before the start of the next campaign.
"We are not Everton or Liverpool, the big names want to play for the really big clubs, and we have to accept reality on that front.
"However, Paul has done it all before in this situation and I've got total confidence in him.
"He got Bradford City to the Premier League and kept them there against the odds.
"Let's hope he can do it all again with Wigan, and we can consolidate our position for a long time to come."
The chairman added: "We showed our intent when we tried to bring Scott Parker from Chelsea last week.
"He is a quality player and we did our best to get him, but the lad had the choice between Newcastle, Spurs, Everton or Wigan.
"In my book, Parker is the best midfielder in the land.
"He wants to get back into the England set-up and I can fully understand why he did choose Newcastle ahead of Wigan.
"But that will not stop us competing and while this is new territory for us it's why we now have to work so hard establishing ourselves at this level."
Jewell has played down reports he is interested in midfield veteran Steve Stone, who has been released by Portsmouth.
But Wigan are still talking to Rotherham United goalkeeper Mike Pollitt, despite reports elsewhere suggesting that his planned £150,000 move had stalled over wages.
Jewell said: "We are in discussions with Mike Pollitt and we hope to sign him this week. Talks haven't broken down."